Helicopter cited after ordinance approval

By Lisa Majors-Duff

Jackson County Sheriff's Department issued the citation at 3:45 p.m. Nov. 4 after receiving several calls indicating the helicopter was flying from its Qualla base of operation, adjacent to the Cherokee Indian Reservation, said Sheriff Jim Cruzan.

Riggs had been made aware of the Jackson County Board of Commissioners' new rules regulating sight-seeing tours on Friday, Cruzan said. The owner, who listed a Pigeon Forge, Tenn., address, told the officer he was considering two courses of action: Suspend flight until the Nov. 27 criminal court date or request a civil court judge issue a temporary injunction against the county's new rules, the sheriff said.

Confusion reigned supreme during the Nov. 1 public hearing on helicopter tours as audience members discussed two different proposals simultaneously. Some in the audience believed the board of commissioners was considering an ordinance that completely banned such businesses, while others had obtained copies of a draft ordinance that regulates helicopter tour operators.

As it turned out, those at the hearing generally approved of both documents because either would effectively remove Smoky Mountain Helicopter Tours from their community.

In the end, commissioners voted unanimously to approve the regulatory law, which mandates that sight-seeing helicopter businesses operate only from the Jackson County Airport after they file an application in which they "address all public issues regarding the health, safety, peace and general welfare of the county."

"I'm not sure how the public got the (new) draft. It was only meant for the commissioners' review," said county Manager Ken Westmoreland, who further indicated that he'd been asked to write the new ordinance at the request of Commissioners Roberta Crawford and Stacy Buchanan. "We were hoping for a unanimous decision," Commissioner Crawford said, explaning her request for the new ordinance.

At this point, board Chairman Jay Denton took time to recap the issue for the audience. After hearing numerous complaints about the noise created by the helicopter in Qualla, board members asked their attorney, Raymond Large, to investigate options for regulating or removing the business. Upon their attorney's recommendation, board members decided in August to pursue an ordinance that regulated tours and asked Large to draft such a document.

Large presented the board with a draft ordinance in early September, which required board members to "fill in the blanks" to determine such things as when the helicopter would fly and how far it had to be located away from homes, schools, churches and health care facilities. Instead of completing this document, board members voted 3-2 to adapt an ordinance from Haywood County, which banned helicopter tours.

Since the ordinance was not approved unanimously and with additional advice from their attorney, board members scheduled a public hearing to discuss the proposed ordinance banning the business. Copies of that document were on display for 14 days prior to the Nov. 1 hearing.

"This is rather confusing. Many of us came prepared for a hearing on the ordinance on display," said Qualla resident Jim Smith, who was not one of those in the audience with a copy of the new ordinance. "I'd like a chance to see the new ordinance."

While Smith and others hurriedly read through the new ordinance, Westmoreland explained that the intent of the document was not to say "that sight-seeing helicopters are necessarily unlawful, but that unregulated helicopter flights are a nuisance." He also pointed out that the permissible location for sight-seeing helicopter tour businesses would be "a primary public airport," in Jackson County's case, the airport in Cullowhee.

"I was glad when I got this new ordinance," said Qualla resident Robert Franz. "I got some legal advise from other sources, who didn't want me to quote them, who said the other ordinance would just cause us to fight a lawsuit. Obviously you got the same kind of councel I got, maybe better."

But Smith and Charles Nations, another Qualla resident, were not so sure.

"A lot of this (new ordinance) is left up to interpretation," Smith said after he'd read the document. "I'd like a little more specificity in some areas."

"We don't know if this new ordinance is going to do the job for us," said Nations, who had spoken just minutes before in favor of banning the business. "I'm tired of that helicopter."

Prior to voting on Commissioners Crawford's motion to adopt the new ordinance as drafted by county Manager Westmoreland, Chairman Jay Denton asked attorney Large if the board was under any obligation to approve a document more in line with what was on display.

"You've had a public hearing. You can pass any ordinance. Legally, you can pull one off the Internet," Large said. "But if you feel an obligation to let the people know what you're considering, that's a policy issue, not a legal issue."

"We are going to fly from Cherokee," said Smoky Mountain Tours manager Jim Garst the day after the ordinance's adoption. "And our attorney will be taking care of our interest."

And fly he did. Garst said he was the pilot Sunday when Riggs, his employer, was cited by the Sheriff's Department after a customer went for a ride.

"My only disappointment with the board, besides making us go through the legal expense and lose of revenue, all the time knowing they are wrong, is that we offered to settle this with them and they chose not to discuss it with us," said Garst.

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