Treatment center in Orem lands a helipad
Council reverses its denial of permit after Cirque Lodge files suit
City leaders previously denied the request for a helicopter landing site at Cirque Lodge — located in the building formerly known as Osmond Studios — but re-evaluated the decision when the owner of the center filed a lawsuit.
"This is a very difficult situation for me, to recommend something contrary to the position taken by a majority of the council," said Jody Burnett, an attorney advising the City Council. "(But) in light of the changed circumstances . . . (I recommend) you put aside personal feelings and support this action in the best interests of the city."
Cirque Lodge owner Richard Losee applied for the permit in 2004 to allow a helicopter to fly to and from his Cirque Lodge facility at 800 North in Orem.
"(Richard) is glad that the city followed their attorney's advice and chose to accept the reasonable settlement," said Bruce Baird, Losee's attorney. "And he trusts that the relations with the neighbors will be restored over a period of time after the operation of the helicopter, once they realize the situation isn't as serious as (they) believed it to be."
As a result, 4th District Court Judge Anthony Schofield asked the city to re-think its vote to deny the permit request. Utah code requires that cities try to mitigate negative effects of conditional-use permits so they can be granted, Burnett said.
With city-created stipulations in place, Burnett recommended that the council grant the conditional-use permit in order to show the court that it did everything it could to mitigate the problems rather than flatly denying the request.
"I apologize for putting you in what I know is an awkward situation," Burnett said "The risk I want to avoid is to lose control of our destiny (and have) the adverse reaction be much more onerous."
If the council denied the request again, the court could possibly overrule the city and grant free rein to the applicant.
The limitations include a maximum average of 12 flights per week with no more than four flights on one day. There can be no flying on Sundays, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving or Christmas. All flights from April 1 to Oct. 31 must be between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. The time constraints between Nov. 1 to March 31 are from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The city also mandated that takeoffs and landings be from the east except in emergencies and that the helicopters be quiet ones, such as the Eurocopter EC 130.
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