Building inspector weighs in on the matter: Town considers how to deal with illegal copters

AMENIA — Having received several notices about helicopters flying illegally over the town of Amenia, members of its Town Board considered what could be done to handle the ongoing issue at a recent meeting held on Thursday, Aug. 6. 

Rather than convene via videoconference, the board gathered in person at 7 p.m. in its regular meeting room at Town Hall, with members keeping a 6-foot distance from one another. The meeting can be viewed on the town’s YouTube channel, “AmeniaTV” and on Public Access Channel 22.

Councilwoman Vicki Doyle brought the issue up for discussion by informing the board that it received another notification about “helicopters flying over to and from Amenia, which is being done illegally.” Turning to Building Inspector Michael Segelken, she asked him to clarify how enforcement works in handling this issue and if there was something the board could do. Councilman James Morris asked where the helicopters have been landing, to which Doyle said the last one sounded like it landed at the new equestrian program at Keane Stud, located at 217 Depot Hill Road in Amenia, before adding that the helicopters have been mainly landing at the still under construction luxury Silo Ridge housing development and golf course, located at 4651 Route 22. She repeated this issue has been an ongoing complaint.

When asked this week why the helicopters have been landing in Amenia, Segelken said he was still trying to figure it out himself. However, he said one of the contractors at Keane Stud told him that there’s an option on the Uber ride sharing app, called Uber Copter, which includes rides to and from downtown Manhattan and JFK heliports that allows people to order helicopter transportation. Segelken speculated some part-time Amenia residents may have been ordering the helicopters on Uber to fly them back and forth between Amenia and the city. However, it should be noted that the website, www.uber.com, has recently stated that due to COVID-19, the Uber Copter service has been temporarily suspended.

Back at the Town Board meeting, Segelken told board members that he looked into the issue repeatedly last year when it was happening, and since the Federal Aviation Administration (FFA) has no issues with it anymore, he said the helicopters are allowed to take off and land. Though the town code stipulates that the helicopters must have an airstrip or landing pad in order to land, Segelken said the choppers have been randomly landing at different areas without a lit landing pad to indicate where they’re supposed to land. 

After contacting the FFA, Segelken was told that the agency allows the helicopters to land five times a year, though he pointed out that the FFA considers each landing and takeoff as one landing.

“I tried all last year — I even got pictures of them landing,” Segelken said, “and it’s just the federal agency does not seem to be concerned.”

“But the town has its own laws,” Doyle pointed out, and Segelken affirmed that the town code requires a landing strip or a landing pad.

Reading aloud a related section of the town code, Councilman Damian Gutierrez confirmed that airfields aren’t a permitted use in any of the zoning districts in the town of Amenia, though he was uncertain as to whether the term “airfield” was defined elsewhere in the code as a pad or strip.

Seeing as the town cannot provide an airstrip, Doyle said, “What they’re doing is illegal from the FFA’s point of view and from our point of view, because they don’t have a proper landing strip, even if they were going to limit themselves to five trips per year.”

When asked by Doyle what the Town Board needs to do to get the helicopters to obey the law, Segelken replied, “Take them to court.”

Amenia town Supervisor Victoria Perotti added that there isn’t a designated fine for the town to enact, which makes enforcement difficult. As far as how the town can get the legal process started, Segelken said he can issue an appearance ticket, as courts are starting up again; he added that only judges can issue fines.