Castaways proposes pad for chopper landings

Dan Kulin

Thursday, Nov. 14, 2002 | 11:13 a.m.

A controversial proposal to put a helicopter landing pad at the Castaways is on its way to the Las Vegas City Council.

The council was scheduled to hear the request for the landing pad next week. But council discussion of the matter will be postponed until Dec. 4, because helicopter company representatives want time to meet with residents opposed to the landing pad.

Castaways and Silver State Helicopters want a landing pad in the hotel parking lot along Fremont Street, two miles east of downtown Las Vegas, in order to launch tours of the Strip and perhaps the Grand Canyon from the hotel, Silver State President Jerry Airola said. Castaways officials hope having helicopter tours based at the hotel will keep their customers from going elsewhere, he said.

The request for the landing pad was unanimously rejected by the Las Vegas Planning Commission on Oct. 24. Before the commission's vote, city staff members said they had concerns about the safety of the site, and Commission Chairman Craig Galati said the site is not an appropriate base for helicopter tours because it is close to residential areas.

The companies are now appealing the commission's decision to the council. Castaways representatives did not return telephone messages seeking comment Wednesday.

Ben Contine, who lives near the Stratosphere, testified against the proposed landing pad during the commission meeting and said he plans to speak against the proposal when it goes before the council.

"The main concern is if this is allowed to go through it opens the floodgates to more neighborhood casinos getting helipads," Contine said. "This should be denied without a second thought."

Contine said he and other residents have been calling City Hall and writing letters to council members in opposition to the proposed landing pad.

Councilman Gary Reese, whose district includes the Castaways, said he has had a lot of calls from residents opposed to the landing pad. "I have always supported my neighbors," he said.

"The neighbors have been inundated with helicopter noise and this would add to it," Reese said. "I told the applicant when he met with me: Why would I support adding to the problem? Why would I support adding more helicopter noise?"

Reese said Wednesday that he would probably recommend denial of the proposed landing pad.

But Airola said the people opposed to the landing pad are not those who live closest to Castaways, and that the neighbors who live nearest to the hotel support the proposal.

During the October Planning Commission meeting, a man who said he represented the neighborhood association for residents adjacent to Castaways said the residents were not opposed to the proposed landing pad. That man could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Contine said those neighbors were misled into thinking the helicopters that would use the landing pad would be relatively quiet helicopters.

But Airola said the helicopters his company would use would be quieter helicopters, smaller than most of the touring helicopters in the area.

Also, Airola said, his company is suggesting that a citizen committee be created to determine hours of operation and other matters concerning the proposed landing pad.

"They want to stop helicopter operations altogether and that's not going to happen," Airola said about opponents to the landing pad. He said the creation of a citizen committee would set a precedent for giving residents more control over helicopter operations in their community.

But Contine said he thinks there isn't any room for compromise on this issue. "We have a fundamental disagreement about appropriate land use," he said.