Morristown Residents Discuss Life With a Helipad

Three Morristown residents detailed their very different experiences living near the helipad at Morristown Memorial Hospital Monday night at the zoning board of adjustment meeting.

Each of the three residents was called to testify on behalf of the group of opposing neighbors. Vijayant Pawar, who has lived in Morristown for three years, said his property abuts the property of Morristown Memorial Hospital but he is approximately 980 feet from the helipad.

"It is extremely loud," he said. "We cannot have conversations when the helicopter is above the house or going towards the helipad. If we are sitting in the backyard we cannot have a conversation. It's three to four minutes before we can actually hear each other speak. "

Pawar, who lives with his wife Jennifer, works during the day and mostly hears the helipad at night and on weekends. He said the frequency increases in the summer but on average he hears it "a couple of times a week."

Pawar also said in the summertime he uses Tiki torches to light his backyard. When the helicopter flies over the house, he said, the Tiki torches blow out.

But it's not just the noise that has caused Pawar to complain to hospital security and to his elected officials.

"The helicopter causes a lot of shaking in the house. When it goes above the house the house shakes," he said. "I've had things fall from my walls because of the vibrations."

Steven Douenias, who has lived at his Morristown home for nine years, also said he can see and hear helicopters flying to Morristown Memorial.

His home is estimated to be 2,200 feet from the helipad and closer to 287.

While Douenias says the highway is a much quieter experience than the helicopters, it was the recent 3.0 earthquake that hit Morris County that he related to the helicopter exerience.

When his wife asked him what the noise was when the earthquake hit, his response was: "It's probably just a chopper flying over the house," he recalled.

Douenias said while he only hears it 4 or 5 times a week because he, like Pawar, works during the day, it does often wake he and his 5-year-old son up in the middle of the night.

"You never get used to it because it's a random act," he said. "I may not experience it directly over the house for a week and then all of a sudden it hits and it's a random hour and you're not prepared."

But the final witness to testify was 37-year Morristown resident Margaret Brady.

Brady lives with her husband 2,200 feet from the helipad in their Victorian home and says the two are frequently woken up by helicopters flying over their house.

"My bedroom is on the second floor but because the house is high there is a big bay window at the foot of my bed that overlooks the hospital," Brady said. "I can't see the hospital when the leaves are on the trees but I can see the helipad because of the lights."

Brady said she also lives near 287 and the NJ Transit train tracks, but says the highway noise is a dull "roar" in the background and the train noise occurs on a schedule and therefore is often not heard.

"Once in a blue moon if the train blows its whistle a lot I'll hear it," she said. "Otherwise I'm not even aware of it during the day."

Brady said the helicopter noise isn't like any other sound but described it as a "whop, whop, whop" sound.

"We've reached a point where we know it's the helicopter but it's still disrupting." she said.

Both Pawar and Brady both attended the Nov. 7 flyover at Morristown Memorial and commented that the noise level was much lower than they experience on a daily basis because it flew in much higher than normal and it also descended rapidly instead of gradually dropping over the residents' homes.

All three residents said that if they were to purchase another home in the Morristown, distance to the helipad would be a significant factor.

Brady, who served on Morristown's council from 1977-1984, said the major issue she has with the helipad now is that when it was approved it was only for a few flights a month. But a decade later the hospital became a trauma center and flights increasd.

In addition, Brady said she has learned from the Federal Aviation Administration that once a helipad is built it is available for any necessary helicopter landings, such as in emergency situations.

Brady also said the approved flightpath for helicopters into Morristown could not be regulated because the FAA said weather conditions and emergency situations could necessitate the pilot taking a different flight path.

"(The flight path) wasn't realistic," she said.

The next zoning board meeting for the helipad will be on April 5. Stay tuned to Summit Patch for additional stories from Monday's zoning board meeting as a professional planner was also called to testify.