Douglas County Officials Have Asked Rampart Helicopter To Move

A private helicopter firefighting company in Castle Rock, CO has been asked to move out of its facility by the Douglas County Board of Commissioners while maintaining a contract with the company for on-call services. But the community is rallying behind the company in an effort to keep it in the area.

Rampart Helicopters is based in the backyard of its owner, Jeff Armstrong. It is located in the middle of a rural neighborhood near Castle Rock, according to a report from KUSA television. The property is zoned for agriculture, not commercial use.

Armstrong said he knows he is in violation of the zoning, and has never tried to hide that fact. He said "back in the day", no one asked permission about what could be done on private land. "You just moved into an uncovenanted area and did what you wanted to do," he told the station.

Armstrong said the county tax assessor changed part of the designation on his property from agricultural to commercial in 2014, so he assumed he was OK. But in 2016, someone filed a complaint. In late July, the commission voted 2-1 to deny Armstrong's request to officially rezone the property, saying that any zoning change would be permanent, and questioning whether it fit in with the surrounding agricultural and residential zoning.

But the county seems to appreciate Armstrong and Rampart Helicopters. Each year, they renew a contract for him to provide firefighting services to the county. The county confirmed that Armstrong is under a "call-by-need" contract.

But unlike many stories of this type, Armstrong has the support of many of his neighbors, who appreciate that they have a firefighting helicopter so close to their homes. The station reports that some 4,000 people have signed an online petition asking Douglas County to reconsider its position on the rezoning.

Armstrong said that he estimates it would cost about $1 million to move his business to another location, and at age 59, he was hoping to retire in a few more years.

(Image from Facebook)

FMI: Source Report