Two requests for Special Use Permits allowing heliports in Colleyville neighborhoods — submitted by residents who don’t actually live in those neighborhoods — were submitted and withdrawn last month, drawing the ire of neighbors and raising the bigger question of what’s allowed in quiet rural subdivisions.
Caris Real Estate LLC withdrew its application from the Dec. 11 Colleyville Planning and Zoning Commission agenda for a heliport at a 4.79-acre site at 1407 Oak Knoll Drive, according to LocalNewsOnly.com.
The news site, which covers Colleyville, Grapevine, Southlake, and Keller, reported that another request for a heliport at 2325 Oak Knoll Drive in Colleyville’s Windview Addition remained on the P&Z agenda. That request, submitted by Family Tides, LLC but reportedly linked to Southlake residents Kathy and David Halbert, involves a $1.5 million home on an 8.24-acre lot. The home was once owned by former Texas Rangers pitcher Jeff Russell.
A daltxrealestate.com reporter watched the Dec. 11 Colleyville P&Z meeting, and the second application also was withdrawn.
Does this mean the issue has gone away following a public outcry from residents? Maybe, and at least temporarily.
The matter of heliports already was tabled from a November meeting but there’s no reason it can’t resurface. LocalNewsOnly.com reported that the applicants “will have to reapply and start the process all over again, should they wish to proceed in the future.”
We reached out to Colleyville Place 5 City Councilman Chuck Kelley, who serves as a liaison between the council and P&Z, and had not heard back by deadline.
Residents Organize Against Colleyville Heliport
Among the concerns raised by Colleyville residents are:
- Heliports diminish the rural feel of neighborhoods
- Precedent is set by allowing heliports
- Impact to animals
- Ramifications of carbon footprints
Colleyville resident Tom Hart wrote on social media that the city has roughly 9,300 households and the population has grown to about 25,000 residents.
“I cannot think of any situation (such as a heliport) within a township that would be more disruptive to so many, but benefiting only the very, very few,” Hart said.
Another resident commented that she did not think there was any way to prevent helicopters from taking off and landing on private property as long as they were 500 feet from a structure.
“You don’t need a helipad for that,” the resident wrote on Facebook. “They land in fields all the time.”
Another resident pointed to Colleyville’s municipal code, commenting, “It would seem that helicopters taking off and landing in a residential area would easily qualify under the nuisance noise clause.”
Stay tuned to daltxrealestate.com for updates on the Colleyville heliport issue.
