Wednesday, June 4, 2003 | 9:30 a.m.
Clark County Aviation Department officials told the County Commission Tuesday that they have two sites in mind for new heliports that could end much of the helicopter noise bothering residents in the urban area.
Dozens of helicopters taking tourists on flights over the Grand Canyon take off daily over homes in the Las Vegas area.
Aviation Director Randy Walker told the commissioners that a site near Railroad Pass east of Henderson and another near the planned Ivanpah airport outside Jean are being considered.
"Both sites have their advantages and disadvantages," Walker told the board.
The site near the planned 6,600-acre Ivanpah airport would catch the eyes of tourists traveling here from California and has "great freeway access to Interstate 15," Walker said.
The disadvantage is that if Henderson keeps expanding, eventually helicopters will be flying over new houses, Walker said.
"We would have a conflict once again with helicopters and homes," he said. "The best thing to do is work with the city of Henderson on the Railroad Pass site."
The aviation department is looking closely at a 37-acre site at the pass and working with Henderson on the idea, Walker said. The advantages of a heliport at Railroad Pass are that it has easy access to utilities and can be designed to keep all flights away from existing or planned residential areas, he said.
Residents and some helicopter companies have been seeking a way to cut the number of flights above residential neighborhoods for years.
Bob Loritz, owner of a home near Tropicana Avenue and Sandhill Road, said he hears 60 to 90 helicopter flights over his home every day, essentially from sunup to sundown.
"When it's nice, you can't leave the doors and windows open," he said.
Loritz is a member of a county committee of residents, representatives of the helicopter companies and other interested parties working on a solution for the problem. Since he joined the committee over a year ago, the group has produced a handful of proposals to mitigate the helicopter noise.
The group this month will present its recommendations to county commissioners. Among their recommendations: Require helicopters to fly higher over residential areas, use different routes and require the tour companies to use quieter technology.
Some of the group's proposals, however, have already been suggested. The Federal Aviation Administration has balked at moving routes or requiring the choppers to fly higher because that could present a safety problem for fixed-wing aircraft flying in or out of McCarran International Airport.
And Loritz said most helicopter tour companies -- there are about a half-dozen serving the Grand Canyon and the Strip -- have refused to invest in more expensive, but quieter, rotor technologies. He said one exception has been Maverick Helicopters Inc., one of the oldest of the tour companies.
Greg Rochna, the owner of the company, said he is ready to enthusiastically endorse whatever choice the county makes.
"We've been wanting to do this for two years," he said. "Basically, there's no way of getting out of this town without flying over some houses.
"We think it's a great idea. We just want to know where they want us to go."
Maverick Helicopters has invested $20 million in quieter engines and in land near Sloan for a new heliport, Rochna said. But issues with Henderson, which does not want helicopter noise over its neighborhoods -- have put the alternate site for the company on hold.
Although Walker warned the commissioners that tours still would fly over the Strip, Loritz said getting the Grand Canyon flights out of town would solve nearly all of the problem.
The Strip flights, he said, are less burdensome for residential areas since they basically leave McCarran and go straight to the Strip immediately north of the airport.
Another warning that Walker gave the County Commission, however, is more worrisome, Loritz said. Walker told the panel that it is likely to be years before either site could be used.
Both sites are now Bureau of Land Management property and would require a federal environmental assessment before they could be converted to heliports.
BLM spokesman Phil Guerrero said his agency would gladly turn land over to the county for a heliport.
"We're really open to working with the county, especially on transportation concerns," he said. "We're in that business. Land is our middle name."
But Walker said anytime federal land is involved, expect the process to take time.
"This is not going to happen next year," he said. "This is a federal process. It is not going to happen quickly.
County commissioners and their constituents, however, would like that process to go forward as rapidly as possible. Commissioner Myrna Williams, who said her urban district is "overwhelmed" with helicopter traffic, favors the southern site near the Ivanpah airport.
"I'm not impressed by the fact that there are not utilities there," she said. "When Ivanpah develops, there will have to be utilities put in there anyway. I want to get on with it as soon as possible."
Commissioner Rory Reid, whose district also is affected by the flights, agreed on the need for alacrity.
"It's a critical problem," he said. "There's people whose quality of life is diminished."
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