Thanks to my E Edition subscription to the Cheshire Herald, I was able to read about the 7-1-1 decision, with one abstention, by the P & Z which allows Bozzuto’s (Cheshires biggest taxpayer) to construct this heliport or vertistop.

If you haven’t read the news, the lone dissenter was Patti Flynn Harris-RIGHT ON PATTI!! She always steps out to the front of the pack. Patti thought the helicopter could and should take off and land at an AIRPORT, namely Meriden Markham, which is approximately 3 miles away from Cheshire in Wallingford.

Now before I left on my trip, I did watch a little bit of the P & Z public hearing on this heliport or vertistop. There was a resident, a Mr. Ilnicki I believe that made some VERY GOOD points regarding helicopter safety, noise and times this helicopter would be in service.

Now I knew the P & Z probably would not deny this application-I mean it IS BOZZUTO’S,

But, in all fairness, they did ask a LOT of questions to their credit. I don’t want to take away from the people on the P & Z because this probably one of the better groups of people I have seen on this commission in many many years. They work together as a group-party lines notwithstanding. It is really hard to tell who is a Democrat or a Republican with this Commission. They interact with each other very well.

But, I was disappointed that the helicopter would be able to operate up to 9 p.m. at night. I really thought the P & Z would have at least made Bozzuto’s put a lid on flights after 7 p.m. Also, I really think the P &Z dropped the ball when they did not limit helicopter flights to just business pertaining to Bozzuto’s

Alright, I will give in to Lifestar because that could be the difference in life and death in the event of a major accident in town. BUT, what is going to stop any person or business that wishes to land a copter at Bozzuto’s helipad from doing so?

AND I wonder if some of our Town officials may be tempted to take the copter to Bradley Airport instead of driving? Will they be able to make arrangements? Who knows??

Get your binoculars out!!

Now our town has had Bozzutos for many years. But look at what has happened in that area of Sandbank Road and West Johnson Avenue. We have a lot more trucking establishments that have scioned off of Buzzuto’s. There is a lot of truck activity in this small area now, whereas 20 years ago it was unheard of. I wonder if this helipad will spawn more helicopter traffic than just Bozzuto’s corporate officials coming and going-we will have to see.

Now I did try to research what FAA regulations are in place for a heliport and came up with this interesting article which I will link you to. I did get a kick out of some of the reasoning behind this article, which is set up as a Q and A.  The article is trying to convince the reader that a helicopter is no more noisy than a LAWNMOWER!! WHAT??

All I know is, my home in Cheshire is in a flight path-when a helicopter flies over-the entire house SHAKES and the windows RATTLE and they are at least 2 to 3000 feet up or more-it is awful.  Please, don’t try to tell us, especially the businesses and residents in the Peck Lane, Sandbank Road and Jarvis Street areas that helicopters emit no more noise than a lawnmower!!

Well, there could be an upside to all of this-now some of these people won’t have to worry about soot buildup on their windows-they will  probably all be falling out from the vibration!!

I know my spouse raised a good point with the town about lighting-from the helicopter that is-especially at night-Don’t these helicopters have a light, akin to a headlight they put on at night so they can see where they are to land? That could be annoying, especially in the fall and winter months when it gets dark early.

This article I am linking you to describes the difference between an “heliport” and a “vertistop”

By the description, it sounds like the situation at Buzzutos will be a “vertistop” technically because there will be no facility and no attendants and could be just a field, a parking lot or a cleared out area.

Helicopter: General Information