UBLIC HEARING: Director of Development ... - City of Glendale

2. Project Overview
has been heavily utilized for helicopter operations and maintenance. The Los Angeles Police
Department, Glendale Police Department, Burbank Police Department, and a commercial
helicopter service have utilized the site as a heliport under Conditional Use Pennirs (CUPs)
from the City of Glendale and appropriate pennits from the Federal Aviation Administration
and the California Department of Transponation. Originally, the site was used by Heliport,
Inc., which utilized the site for helicopter landings and takeoffs from 1958 to 1968. The
original conditional use application shows that the site had four departure sites and one landing
site at this time. The Los Angeles Police (LAPD) airborne unit was the major user of the site
from 1964 until 1972 when the Glendale Police and Burbank Police air support units moved
their operations to the site. LAPD helicopter operations were moved to a downtown location
in 1983. In 1988 the Burbank airborne law enforcement unit moved to Burbank Airport,
followed in 1992 by the Glendale Police air support unit.
During the peak years of operation (1972 to 1983) when all three police departments
were operating out of the project site, the LAPD used seven Bell 47G5 piston helicopters, one
Bell 47G5A, one Bell 47G3B1, 16 Bell 206B single engine turbine models, one UHIB (Bell
204), and a CH46. From 1972 to 1992, three Hughes 300 piston model aircraft were used by
the Glendale Police. The Burbank Police shared the use of these three Hughes aircraft with the
Glendale Police from 1972 to 1988. 2
Records of police flight operations for the years 1974-1992 were readily available. The
following flight statistics are based on that infonnation. From 1974 to 1978, there were
approximately 586 flight events (landings or takeoffs) per week. The LAPD was operating 24
hours a day and on weekdays during this time. From 1978 to 1983, after which time the LAPD
moved downtown, the average number of flight events per week was 886. From 1983 to 1988,
when the Glendale and Burbank Police Departments were operating together, weekly flights
totalled 300. From 1988 to 1992, when the Glendale Police air support unit was operating
alone, approximately 200 flight events per week occurred. 3 Existing facilities on the site
include a helicopter hangar, two temporary office buildings (trailers on concrete foundations),
a storage shed, and a helipad.
2
3
Helipon Consultams, letter to Glendale Redevelopment Agency dated March 7, 1996 (see Appendix B-2).
Ibid.
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