The private club in Bradenton, Fla., wants to install a helistop to accommodate one of its members, saying its use would be limited to two daylight landings per month. Some nearby residents are against the proposal, arguing that the noise will scare their horses and disrupt quiet rural neighborhoods.
Residents near The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla., are objecting to a proposed helicopter pad the club wants to install to accommodate one of its members, insisting the noise will scare their horses and disrupt the quiet rural neighborhoods, the Sarasota, Fla., Herald-Tribune reported.
The club is countering that the take-offs and landings will be infrequent and not as loud as neighbors suspect. The 1,280-acre private club says the “helistop”—so called because it will have no accessories such as parking, a waiting room or fueling and maintenance equipment—would be limited to two daylight landings per month for a member it has declined to name, the Herald-Tribune reported.
The pad reportedly would be roughly 2,600 feet away from S.R. 70 and the entrance to the Panther Ridge subdivision, 2,230 feet away from The Concession’s western border with Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, 3,350 feet away from homes to the south and 994 feet away from homes to the east, the Herald-Tribune reported.
An evaluation by Keane Acoustics on behalf of the club determined that the potential noise impact on nearby neighborhoods will be “negligible.” The club did not return a phone message from the Herald-Tribune yesterday.
Despite the club’s assurances, residents in the neighborhoods north and east of the club are emailing objections to county officials and intend to speak against the helistop at a Planning Commission meeting today. The Planning Commission will make a recommendation to the County Commission, which will have the final say on May 5, the Herald-Tribune reported.
“As the father of a son who has severe autism and sensory sensitivity, I am strongly opposed to the new helipad being planned near our home,” Algirdas Kaspar emailed the Herald-Tribune and county officials. “We moved to Panther Ridge in 2008, about as far back from S.R. 70 as one can get, to be away from noise and where he can have an open space to be a kid. Our son’s autism is such that he startles easily and is terribly affected by loud and/or unexpected noises. We did not choose to live next to an interstate or near an airport runway. We chose to be as far away as possible from noise for our son’s sake.”
Diane Cino is among several residents who wrote county planners that many homeowners in the area own and ride horses. The overhead noise of a helicopter “can cause catastrophic injury or death to a horse and/or rider if a horse spooks,” she said. “In addition to safety for equestrians, our homes will be devalued just for the ‘rich’ people to get to their golf game quicker.”
Although they recommend approval, county planners said they are unsure of the noise impacts on developments recently approved to the west in Lakewood Ranch on State Road 70, such as the 1,300-home Del Webb subdivision now under construction and the 1,999 homes to be built in Lakewood National Golf and Country Club and Bridgewater East. They note that “the flight path is not identified,” the Herald-Tribune reported.
The club informed county planners that it needs the land use approval before it can work out those details with the Federal Aviation Administration, the Herald-Tribune reported.
C&RB featured The Concession Golf Club in its February 2015 cover story.
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