Limits should apply to additional helicopter tours in area
Limits generally apply to all aspects of life, even in this age of technology. Our First Amendment freedoms of assembly, religion and speech, for example, are balanced by laws pertaining to criminal and civil behavior. Technology itself has limits, although many of those are still being developed, socially and legally.
Almost everything under the sun has limits, including the number of helicopter tours that should be available in the communities of a tourism-driven economy.
Horry County government officials are considering an ordinance to further restrict where helicopter tours could operate. This discussion comes after the city of North Myrtle Beach again denied a helicopter tour firm’s request and the S.C. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Helicopter Adventures, which operates in Myrtle Beach, on 21st Avenue North.
Helicopter Adventures is one of three such services in the Myrtle Beach area. Oceanfront Helicopters is on Kings Highway near Myrtle Beach International Airport and Executive Helicopters operates from Terminal Street at Grand Strand Airport in North Myrtle Beach.
Myrtle Beach Helicopter Tours wants to operate in North Myrtle Beach and twice in four months has been denied its request. In June, the city’s Board of Zoning and Appeals denied a request for a launch pad along U.S. 17 at Windy Hill Road Extension. The proposed launch pad was moved to 300 feet from the highway but the request was again denied on Sept. 10.
About 150 residents attended the meeting to express concerns about noise from the choppers, safety issues and a negative impact on property values. Board member Cynthia Lover made the additional point that the helicopter business “would be limiting to businesses that might want to go in [adjoining or nearby] vacant properties.” Safety issues include potential distractions to motorists and to the number of choppers in the air and their monitoring by airport control towers.
Joy Sparks, a resident of Barefoot Resort, was among the 10 residents called to speak in North Myrtle Beach. Referring to the revenue the business purportedly would bring to North Myrtle Beach, Sparks said: “What I’m going to bring to you is how much are you going to lose in real estate value? I think this is going to affect the value of all of our property. You’re getting ready to list your property and all of a sudden this helicopter is here. People are going to say, ‘I don’t want to live here with all this noise.’ ”
Residents in the vicinity of 21st Avenue North in Myrtle Beach can attest to noise from Helicopter Adventures. Plantation Point resident Richard Hinde sued, asking whether a helicopter tour business is permitted use in amusement-commercial zoning. The Court of Appeals recently uphold a ruling by Circuit Court Judge Larry Hyman in favor of the helicopter company. The issue could go to the state Supreme Court.
Another Plantation Point resident, Tom Navarria, who built his home in 2010 before Helicopter Adventures started, says at times the helicopter noise make it “literally unbearable to be outside.”
Horry County Councilman Bill Howard, whose district includes Plantation Point, concurs: “Seven days a week, it’s just noise, noise, noise.” He says “... if there’s any way ... to stop it, that’s what we’re looking for.” Howard notes that he’s referring to additional helicopter flights. “You’re not going to stop the ones that are in business. They’re very successful.”
City spokesmen for both Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach, have noted the sometimes delicate balance in dealing with needs and concerns of residents and those of commerce.
“We make our living off of tourism, but are very much a residential community – which is a big part of the appeal for tourists,” says Mark Kruea, public information officer for Myrtle Beach. His counterpart in North Myrtle Beach, Pat Dowling, noted the potential problems in a municipality or county approving any new commercial property next to an existing community.
“There has to be a compromise,” Dowling said. “You can’t have total peace and quiet in your life. As Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach have grown as tourist destinations and businesses have seen the value in investing in the area, all of us who live in homes that are already here get the brunt of that. I guess it is a delicate balancing act.”
Balance is the key. Existing communities concerned about new helicopter tours flying over their homes are entirely different from homeowners in new communities built near an existing airport, race track or railroad. In the latter situations, it’s difficult to side with newcomers who don’t like train horns in the night – on tracks in place long before houses.
North Myrtle Beach acted appropriately in responding to the concerns of residents and not allowing another helicopter business in the location requested. And Horry County Council is on the right course to limit additional helicopter tours near established residential communities. The Infrastructure and Regulations Committee should take a serious look at safety issues as well as locations.
This story was originally published October 3, 2015 at 9:19 AM with the headline "Limits should apply to additional helicopter tours in area."