Sent:
Subject: Re: New Content: Embassy Suites Hotel
Helicopter Landing Pad
Hal,
the underlining problem is not with whether the specifications were met by the
contractor. The real question is why was the helipad mandated
in the first place. The answer is that the fire and police departments somehow
convinced city planners that all high rise buildings be constructed
with helipads on the roof top. Their reasoning was that it would be good
for "public safety".
This
is an unreasonable expectation and costs developers hundreds of thousands
of dollars needlessly. There has never been an incident in this city where a
helipad was needed on a high rise builiding, which
have been around for many decades. There has not been one structure fire in a
high rise building in
The
best outcome in this case is to remove the helipad requirement and
let the contractor dismantle the landing pad.
Bruce