FOUNTAIN VALLEY : Neighbors Protest FHP Helipad Plan
About two dozen residents living around the corporate headquarters of FHP Health Care held a protest before the company’s annual shareholders meeting Thursday to protest plans to build a permanent helicopter landing pad there.
Holding signs declaring “No Heli-Stop” and “Just Say No to FHP,” the residents said they oppose the proposed landing pad because of noise, safety and what they said would be a negative impact on property values.
FHP uses a parking structure at the south end of its medical complex there, which shares the property with the company’s headquarters, as a landing pad in emergency situations, according to Ria Marie Carlson, director of public relations for the company. The parking structure is next to the Mariposa townhomes.
FHP held a public hearing on its plans in early October and was met by fierce opposition from Mariposa neighborhood residents.
“We bought in the area for the tranquillity and aesthetics,” Mariposa resident Joe Lucchino said at Thursday’s protest, “and we’d hate to see that disrupted when the only real motivation to build the heli-stop is to shuttle the (FHP) executives here.”
Kathy Rocha, who lives in the Parkwood neighborhood north of the FHP facility, said she can hear the helicopters when they land at the parking structure.
“I’m not opposed to emergency landings, just a permanent heli-stop,” she said.
In a letter issued to residents by FHP President Westcott W. Prince III, the company promised that the landing pad would be used for emergency purposes only.
On Thursday, FHP also announced that it would no longer consider a proposed dental building as a potential location for the landing pad and instead would seek other options. The future dental building will be near the townhomes.
Among alternatives being considered is a site at Brookhurst Street and Talbert Avenue, Carlson said. “We’re very sympathetic to (the residents’) cause, but we have a commitment to save lives,” she said.
But Jody Robinson, a protest organizer and president of the Mariposa Homeowners Assn., said opponents would fight a permanent landing pad anywhere near their homes.
“We do not want a dedicated heli-stop anywhere on their campus,” she said. “FHP has everything to gain and we have everything to lose.”
Organizers said they are planning a mass mailing to inform residents about the helipad and collecting names for a petition.
