Companies that want to launch delivery drones in Little Elm would first need a specific use permit from the Town Council, and their launch sites would have to sit at least 200 feet from residentially zoned land, under zoning changes up for a public hearing Tuesday.
Ordinance No. 1877 is a package of text amendments to the town's zoning ordinance. Part of it comes from the town's attorneys, who recommended changes to match laws passed in the 2025 legislative sessions; the rest is a list of fixes town staff have been collecting.
According to the staff report, the plan had been to fold the changes into a new Land Development Code, but delays in that rewrite pushed staff to bring them forward now. The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval 6-0 on Aug. 20.
Rules for drone hubs
The draft defines a drone delivery service as a site with one or more launching pads for unmanned aircraft carrying commercial goods. It would be allowed only with a permit in the light commercial, heavy commercial, Lakefront District and light and heavy industrial zones. Among the conditions:
- a decorative iron fence 6 to 8 feet tall around the staging area, ringed by 36-inch evergreen shrubs
- no more than 20 launching pads on a site, and no more than one pad per 400 square feet of staging area
- no staging areas in setbacks, fire lanes, parking spaces or places that block visibility
- one parking space per employee on the largest shift
State law changes
The town's legal summary walks through House Bill 24, which changes how neighbors can force a council supermajority by protesting a zoning case. As the summary reads it, if a rezoning only adds residential density, a protest by neighbors within 200 feet would no longer require more than a simple majority vote to approve it. The summary calls one of the new exceptions "nonsensical."
Other updates would reflect House Bill 2464, which bars cities from prohibiting home-based businesses that add no traffic, street parking, visible activity or extra noise, and House Bill 1522, which moved agenda posting from 72 hours to three business days before a meeting.
