Some say whoa to Helistop plans

As Keri Cooper and her friend Jimmie Eatherly rode Cooper’s horses along Lindrick Lane, the northern entry road for The Concession, an F150 truck drove across a small bridge.

As the tires hit a metal section, a rumbling, clanking sound arose, causing Eatherly’s horse, Spirit, to jump and skid sideways, made nervous by the noise.

“My horses are used to noise, and it scared him,” Cooper said.

Cooper and her neighbors in the Panther Ridge community are worried about plans by The Concession Golf Club to install a helistop adjacent to its clubhouse. Although within the Concession’s boundaries, the proposed location would still be near equestrian homesteads. Neighbors worry the noise from a helicopter flying overhead could cause horses to spook, potentially resulting in injury to the horses or their riders.

Manatee County Planning Commissioners on April 14 recommended approval by a 4-2 vote of the helistop. The proposal now will go before the Manatee County Commission for final approval June 2. The item is slated for the May 5 land-use meeting, but the applicant has been granted a continuance.

Since April 2015, more than two dozen Panther Ridge homeowners have sent letters to the county opposing the project.

Their primary concern is safety, but they also believe the helistop could negatively impact home values and that helicopter sightings could become more frequent than the twice-monthly maximum Concession representatives have indicated.

Cooper said noise from a helicopter overhead is different than hearing jake brakes on State Road 70 or other ground-level noises to which her horses are accustomed. 

Neighbor Deborah Lynch agreed. “They’re an animal you cannot anticipate how they are going to react to something startling. It’s bad on so many levels.”

Concession attorney Ed Vogler said The Concession wants the helistop for members and said the helicopter landing pad, which would not accommodate overnight parking, fueling aircraft or other larger-scale aircraft needs, would have minimal impacts. The proposed location is adjacent to The Concession’s clubhouse, and farther away from Panther Ridge homes than originally proposed in April 2015.

The applicant’s study indicated noise from the helicopter landings would be no worse than from trucks passing residences.

“Concession is a place for serious golfers and members of the club are serious golfers. The experience of a first-class golf venue is critical,” Vogler said. “We would do nothing ever that would affect the golf experience. This is demonstrated by no homes on the golf course.”

Panther Ridge owners still worry.

Panther Ridge resident Ronald Bray is a golfer, and his wife is an equestrian.

“What I’m concerned about is the safety of my wife, my grandkids and my neighbors,” Bray said. “I ask to put (the helistop) on hold until there are more answers. Golf and horses do pretty good together. But not horses and helicopters.”

Approvals for the Concession in 2004 and 2009 have stipulations prohibiting helistops. Neither county staff nor the applicant could specify whether the restriction was aimed at residential lots within the Concession, or in general, but the applicant can request the change, as it is doing.