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The Seminole City Council voted 4-3 on May 12, 2026 to reject Walmart’s proposal for a Wing-operated drone delivery nest at the Walmart Supercenter at 10237 Bay Pines Blvd, blocking what would have been the company’s first launch site in Pinellas County.
The decision marks the first municipal-level rejection inside Walmart and Wing’s broader Tampa Bay area expansion, which was announced in June 2025 alongside plans for Atlanta, Houston, Charlotte, and Orlando. Atlanta launched in December 2025. Houston followed in January 2026. Tampa Bay was supposed to be next.
The Proposal On The Table
Wing’s filing asked Seminole to amend a 2013 development agreement to install a “nest” in 23 parking spaces at the southeast corner of the Walmart lot. The infrastructure included a 20-foot shipping container for drone storage, an 8-foot security fence, and a battery-powered generator.
The aircraft itself, according to the filing, weighs 11.7 pounds, carries up to 2.5 pounds of payload, cruises at roughly 50 mph, and operates within a 3-mile service radius. Wing measured noise output at 62.6 decibels during loading and delivery cycles, comparable to a normal conversation.
Why The Council Said No
As Tampa Bay Beacons reported, residents and four of the seven voting members rejected that noise calculation. Concerns centered on the cumulative impact of repeated overflights across nearby residential streets, proximity to eagle habitat in the area, and the broader question of whether a federal aviation framework should override local zoning decisions.
Mayor Leslie Waters, who voted against the proposal, summarized the skepticism bluntly. “They told us it would just blend in with the rest of the traffic out there,” she said, according to Tampa Bay Times reporting on the council session…