News, Events, Meetings, etc.

(June 11, 2009) A Victory in Court for Citizens to Restore the Peace!

Legal action by Citizens to Restore the Peace was successful in temporarily halting the helicopter tours in Helen. White Co. Superior Court Judge, Murphy Miller granted a Writ of Mandamus which ordered the city of Helen to require new application for a conditional use permit for the helicopter tour business. In order to resume operations in Helen, the operators of Helen Helicopter Tours would have to reapply for a permit at city hall, and the city would have to follow the appropriate zoning procedures in consideration of the application.

(June 19, 2009) Helen Helicopter Tours apparently resumed operation, flying over Helen, but taking off and landing in Robertstown, GA outside of Helen City limits.

Citizens of Tallula Falls, Georgia are concerned that their town could be next.

http://www.thenortheastgeorgian.com/articles/2008/09/16/news/top_stories/05topstory.txt

Contrary to what was attributed in the White Co. News to Paige Welch, editor of “Universal Helicopter,” helicopter tours around the Statue of Liberty have been made subject to legal regulation. The helicopters are still flying, but tours are set to be phased out by 2010. Anyone can read about it in the Gothamist (6-21-08). http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/a-plan-to-phase-out-west-side-helicopter-tours

On Aug 14 The White Co. News ran a good article covering the meeting. Find it here: http://www.whitecountynewstelegraph.com/articles/2008/08/14/news/news02.txt

Thanks to everyone who attended the meeting on Aug 12. The following article, printed Aug 13 2008, is an attempt by WNEG news to sum up the events. However, it is fairly misleading in its suggestion that all is well and that a compromise has been reached. The operator’s “compromise” was far from satisfactory for the other party, and was greeted with a great deal of skepticism. The “compromise” appears to be just a reshuffling of the flight paths, and adherence to the terms of the “compromise” are entirely at the discretion of the operator, while residents have no means of holding the operator accountable at this point.

http://www.wneg32.com/index.php/news/article/helen-helicopter-business-reaches-compromise/1241/

In the local news in early August, 2008 http://www.wneg32.com/index.php/news/article/a-controversy-buzzes-in-helen/1204/

July 2008

Gainesville Times article about Helen helicopter complaints, which is a display of low quality journalism.

http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/article/7446/