Toms River Zoning Board Rejects Heliport Proposal

A North Jersey man’s proposal to turn a vacant marina he owns into a heliport for his personal use and for the use of emergency medical helicopters was rejected unanimously by the Toms River Zoning Board of Adjustment Thursday night, to the boisterous approval of residents.

Robert Grogan of Florham Park, who owns the former marina at 3423 Route 37 East through Toms River Properties LLC, had sought a use variance and a waiver of a site plan to build a 200-foot by 200-foot helipad on the property.

The site is next to Aqua Blu, which offers lunch, dinner and cocktails with both indoor and outdoor seating at the site on the edge of Barnegat Bay. On the other side of the site is the Breezy Point neighborhood, which has been in existence since the 1950s, according to residents.

The hearing on the proposal had been continued from a July 9 meeting of the board, which had postponed a vote at that time in order to do a site inspection. It was that inspection that led the board to reject the request.

Attorney Harvey York, representing Grogan on the use variance request, placed testimony on the record at the July hearing saying Grogan intended the helipad for his personal use, and stipulating that the flights would be no more than 25 per year. Also introduced was communication from MONOC first aid saying the helipad would be beneficial to the community as a landing spot for medevac helicopters.

Stephan Leone, attorney for Cathy Varriale, the owner of Aqua Blu, said Grogan’s proposed “private use” was open to a lot of interpretation under Federal Aviation Administration rules.

“Private use means available for use by the owner and other persons authorized by owner,” Leone said. “He can authorize other people to use this heliport. and you have no control over that. It (the use) can be expanded to the detriment of residents and the restaurant,” a concern highlighted by the fact that online services have already begun listing the heliport as operational, residents and board members said.

Zoning board member Robert Alston said he visited the site twice, drove around to Breezy Point to view it from the neighborhood side and said the location of the helipad puts it 120 feet from the nearest home.

While the helicopter Grogran is proposing to fly into the spot is relatively quiet, the medevac helicopters that might use the site are not, Alston said.

“The MONOC helicopter is a twin-engine jet-powered helicopter,” he said, “and if it is not available, the State Police helicopter, either NorthStar or SouthStar, would be called in, and that is an even bigger, louder and stronger helicopter.”

Alston, who noted that he is a volunteer firefighter, said there are 27 designated emergency landing zones around town, including schools, ball fields and parks, providing plenty of emergency coverage if it’s needed.

“That is in no way beneficial to the neighborhood,” he said.

“There are some online services touting it as operational, it is not operational at this point,” Alston said.

Board chairwoman Linda Stefanik expressed concerns about drivers coming over the Tunney Bridge on Route 37 westbound to the mainland being distracted by the sight of a helicopter landing on the pad.

“From the time you hit the top of the bridge and go down, this site is clearly in view of the driver,” Stefanik said, adding she drives the bridge almost daily. “People are always looking at boats, the harbor -- they don’t pay attention to what they’re doing now.” There are accidents and near-misses as people turn into Xina, the restaurant at the base of the bridge on the westbound lanes, as well as issues when drivers are turning into Pisces Seafood, she said.

“I don’t feel this is right or beneficial for this site either,” she said, and the remainder of the board members expressed they agreed with that sentiment.

York tried to counter Alston’s statements about the MONOC usage, questioning whether there are windsocks at the landing sites used, and Alston replied that when a field or a school is used, firefighters set up a perimeter and use a flare to help the helicopter pilot determine the wind direction.

The board’s remarks against the helipad set off a round of applause from the 100 or so people in the audience, most of whom were wearing neon pink or green stickers saying “No Helipad” with a helicopter with a big X through it.

Because it was unclear what the next step might be, residents voiced their concerns for the record, even after it was clear the board was going to reject the proposal. Grogan, who was present, did not speak and left shortly after the vote to deny the variance was taken.

John J. Kaye of Gary Road, who worked on helicopters for years, said the hidden risk of a helicopter crash is that the rotor blades distintegrate, throwing shards of metal everywhere.

“On impact that metal becomes missiles,” he said. “There’s no fences to protect the homes from that shrapnel.”

Russell Mills of Cruiser Court objected to it on the basis of safety risks to children who swim in the Breezy Point lagoons, kayak there or nearby on Barnegat Bay and who go paddleboarding, because of the wind that would be generated by the helicopter as it lands.

Nels Luthman of New Jersey Avenue said the pad was twice as large as what was needed.

‘The largest helicopter in the state only needs an 82-by-82-foot pad,” he said.

Dana Dentato of Gary Road objected on the basis that approving the use variance would allow Grogan to sell the helipad to a commercial helicopter venture in the future with the potential of dozens of flights a day.

“We could end up with a company giving tours of the Jersey Shore right next to our homes,” she said.

Tom Fote of Cruiser Court, a Vietnam veteran who flew ”at least a couple hundred” helicopter missions from Ben Hoa Army Base during his tour of duty before he was injured, asked the board to reject it not only for the community as a whole, but for him personally as he continues to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder related to his service.

“The two main triggers for my PTSD are sirens and helicopters,“ he said. “Helicopters mean you are either going to or coming from somewhere really dangerous, and your life is threatened.”

“I have never spoken about this publicly and it is not easy for me, a tough Brooklyn boy, to admit there are things I cannot conquer on my own,” he said. “I need to learn to live with the sound of sirens, but I continue to be very troubled by the sound of a helicopter.”

Lynda Fote, Tom’s wife, who organized residents to speak out at Thursday’s meeting, said residents missed the July 9 meeting because some of them weren’t notified about it.

“We are still rebuilding from Sandy and couldn’t afford an attorney to represent us,” she said, and called the suggestion that medevec helicopters could use the site a “disingenuous ploy to make this acceptable.”

In written remarks submitted to the board, Lynda Fote said Grogan had shown little appreciation of noise impact on the neighborhood during work at the marina “since he has a rock crusher using this property that frequently begins crushing before 7 a.m., creating both noise and dust.”

“Additionally, the work on the pilings and docks as he refurbished the marina also frequently began early in the morning, before 8 a.m.,” she said.

The board then voted unanimously to deny the variance.

After the meeting, York said he was not sure what Grogan’s next step would be, as he was only representing him on the use variance.

“I think this would have been approved if the board had voted at the July meeting, before all these people came out,” he said.

(Photos: 1. A closeup of the tags residents wore to protest the proposal. 2. Residents listen to testimony on the helipad proposal. 3. Zoning Board member Robert Alston details his objections to the proposal. Credits: Karen Wall)