UPDATE: Fayetteville City Council Sides with Swarm Aero Over Zoning Issue

UPDATE: The Fayetteville City Council on May 19 sided with Swarm Aero in its appeal of a city board of adjustment determination last month that said the drone manufacturer did not meet city zoning codes.

The decision enables Swarm, which is operating out of Drake Field, to continue its manufacturing operations. Swarm, based in California, issued the following statement to AMP:

“We are very happy that the City Council upheld the city staff’s original determination for our building’s use and are thrilled that Swarm Aero will be staying and growing in Fayetteville.Mayor Molly Rawn and City Staff have been consummate professionals. Their love for this town is evident. We also want to thank all the Council Members. We understand that this was a difficult vote for many of them. They asked hard questions and always looked out for the best interests of all of Fayetteville.
We want to express our gratitude to the multitude of supporters who came out to ensure that the opportunities advanced technologies offer can find a home here in Fayetteville.It is now incumbent on us to be the company we said we would be: To create good-paying jobs that hire exceptional people right here in Fayetteville; to be sound environmental and public safety stewards; and to be engaged, responsible members of this amazing, vibrant community.
Thank you, Fayetteville. It’s great to be home.”

APRIL 16: Drone manufacturer Swarm Aero is planning to proceed with its manufacturing facility in Fayetteville after the city recently threw a monkey wrench into the company’s plans.

The city’s board of adjustments determined that the city’s zoning code does not classify drone manufacturing. The zoning issue was taken up by the board after concerns were raised by the Arkansas Justice Reform Coalition, a nonprofit dedicated primarily to incarceration reform that opposes Swarm’s move to Fayetteville.

On Wednesday, Swarm appealed the ruling to the full city council.

“We took this action at the encouragement of several community leaders in Fayetteville and after a thorough review of the zoning ordinances,” said Peter Kalogiannis, Swarm Aero co-founder and chief engineer, in a statement released to AMP. “We want to thank the Fayetteville city staff and Mayor [Molly] Rawn for their fairness and professionalism throughout this process. We respect the concerns raised at the board of adjustment’s hearing last week. We view this appeal process as an opportunity to have an open and transparent dialogue about our aircraft manufacturing facility with the community we hope to call home.”

California-based Swarm and city officials cut the ribbon on the company’s 80,000-square-foot facility at Drake Field in February. The company plans to develop large, uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) “swarms” in Fayetteville. UAV swarms are groups of drones designed to perform complicated maneuvers and missions, usually for military operations.

The Fayetteville operation will have the capacity to produce thousands of UAVs, and the facility will create hundreds of high-skilled aerospace jobs over the next decade, company officials said.

Swarm officials were joined by local leaders, including Congressman Steve Womack (with scissors), at the February ribbon-cutting. (Photo courtesy of Swarm Aero)

In the statement, Kalogiannis said Swarm chose Fayetteville for many reasons and affirmed that the company remains committed to its plans.

“The community’s strong commitment to education at all levels will provide us with a highly educated, skilled workforce as we continue to grow as an aviation manufacturer,” he said. “The partnership with the University of Arkansas presents an opportunity to help develop a generation of aerospace engineers in this exciting and emerging technology sector. The quality of life unique to Fayetteville makes it the type of community where we want to live, work and raise our families. We understand that questions about emerging technologies are both natural and important. We remain committed to listening, providing transparency and ensuring that our presence contributes positively to the broader Fayetteville community.”

At the February ribbon-cutting, Swarm CEO and Co-Founder Danny Goodman said the company looked at more than 20 states before deciding on Arkansas.

“We chose northwest Arkansas because of the exceptional talent and partners, and we’re thrilled to continue our growth here,” he said. “Large UAVs are the future of armed conflict. When paired with our swarm command and control software, they can achieve major combat objectives by cooperating with superhuman dexterity while being several times cheaper than traditional aircraft. This is one of the most consequential developments in modern conflict, and we have built an exceptionally talented engineering team to bring this vision to life.”

In March, Swarm announced a $35 million Series A financing round led by Two Sigma Ventures and Silent Ventures with participation from Swarm seed investors Khosla Ventures, Scribble Ventures, Friends & Family Capital, Construct Capital, Coatue, Founders Fund, Alumni Ventures and Mac Venture Capital. The company stated that it was using $59 million in capital raised to accelerate the development and deployment of the company’s large UAV and the swarm software that enables drones to be controlled at scale.

Some city residents have publicly shown their opposition to Swarm’s plans. (Photo courtesy of AJRC)

Sarah Moore, executive director of Arkansas Justice Reform Coalition, said the group believes the type of business proposed for the space at Drake Field does not line up with how it is being zoned.

“A city’s development code cannot possibly think of all the possibilities that might occur so city staff make their best interpretation based on what details are provided by the business,” she wrote to AMP in an email. “The process to go through the BOA appeal process allows for looking further at this interpretation. The concern by residents is that the array of business that has been publicly discussed to take place at the location does not meet the definition of the use unit and of the zoning of I1 light industrial and seems to be different than what was shared with city staff. Given what is known of this business, it appears to align more so with several other possible use units and with I2 general industrial zoning.

“Additionally, the public and city residents deserve the ability to weigh in on how their community looks and how it is shaped. City of Fayetteville residents value natural spaces, walkability, and quality of life and have spent millions of their own taxpayer monies to create this community. These same taxpayers also deserve and should have the ability to push back on & weigh in on entrants or changes to the city that would go counter to these plans and would interrupt the spaces and quality of life that have been thoughtfully created by their investments.”