Man’s Plan for Back-Yard Helipad Has Rocky Landing : Flying: Dean Rasmussen promises to allow firefighters’ choppers to use his pad, but some neighbors are not persuaded.

Dean Rasmussen, who lives on a sprawling hacienda with a magnificent view of Agoura Hills, said Tuesday that all he needs to “save the strain and pain” of freeway commuting is a heliport in his back yard.

But the deep whoop-whoop-whoop of chopper blades is not a welcome sound in the rural enclave of Agoura Hills, where residents relish the caws of hawks and the howls of coyotes. The small city near the Ventura County line prohibits private helipads.

Rasmussen, the president of a large grading and construction firm, however, is accustomed to moving mountains to get a job done. And Tuesday, with the fortitude of an earthmover, he launched a public relations campaign aimed at winning approval for his heliport.

He opened the locked gates to his 120-acre hilltop ranch home and conducted a media briefing, complete with prepared text and poster-size graphics of his helipad plans. He handed out a slick folder stuffed with color photos of his property, a noise study and seven magazine and newspaper articles that praised the heroic efforts of emergency helicopters.

He promised to allow Los Angeles County Fire Department helicopters to use his proposed pad and said he would build a 10,000-gallon emergency water tank that could be used by choppers fighting brush fires or by earthquake victims after the Big One strikes.

“I believe in America,” said Rasmussen, whose Simi Valley-based company is C.A. Rasmussen. “If what you want doesn’t have an impact on your neighbors, if you work hard, you should get what you deserve.”

One other item that Rasmussen, a country boy at heart, wants permission to do is shoot skeet.

“At times, me and a few of my buddies have been known to shoot some skeet out in the back,” Rasmussen said. “I’ll be asking for a permit to open a private range.”

Some neighbors who live below his spread are not impressed. They have property values to worry about.

“The neighbors are upset because we would have to disclose during property sales that a heliport is close by,” said Mary Lou Thornton, president of the Las Virgenes Homeowners Federation and a resident of the subdivision below Rasmussen. “Also, the mothers are concerned that he is seeking a shooting range in the hills where their children play.”

Residents also are upset because Rasmussen has begun preliminary grading at the heliport site and in the past has occasionally had a helicopter illegally pick him up at the ranch.

When asked about the prohibited takeoffs, Rasmussen responded, “Have you ever driven 60?” He said he plans to hold a community meeting at his home later this month to explain to his neighbors that the chopper will sound “like a car driving 25 miles an hour.” He said he would only use the landing pad about twice a month when his job requires that he visit far-flung construction jobs.

Like other political campaigns, Rasmussen is attempting to put a spin on the issue: This is no simple heliport, he says. It is an “Auxiliary Landing Pad” that may help save “lives and limb” in the event emergency transportation is needed.

James M. Sanchez, chief of air operations for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, said he is in an awkward position on the issue.

“Yes, we do need heliports because of the growth in the area. Yes, we could use the water tanks. But we can’t get caught in the middle of political play,” Sanchez said. “Would we lobby for him or give him support? Probably not.”

Agoura Hills Senior City Planner Michael Kamino said Rasmussen faces a battle to obtain a city zoning permit for the landing site and skeet shooting range.

“Frankly, we’ve received many calls, and the neighbors feel it will cause a lot of noise and they are going to oppose it,” Kamino said.

And feisty Agoura Hills is only the first hurdle. Rasmussen would also need clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration and the California Department of Transportation.

But the 47-year-old Rasmussen, a private pilot, said he is fascinated with aviation and obsessed with a dream. He said he was once a poor kid who vowed that one day he would be rich enough to fly to work.

“I always wanted a helicopter and my own pad,” he said, blushing slightly, “I know this may sound a little sickening, but I’ve worked hard every day of my life to be able to get this far.”