Town of Palm Beach Landmarks Preservation Commission Approves Mar-a-Lago Helipad

Mar-a-Lago is getting a landing pad for the president’s helicopter, Marine One. The approval came from the Town of Palm Beach Landmarks Preservation Commission with a unanimous vote. The design for a 50-foot concrete helipad was approved under the condition that it’s kept as simple as possible.

The location for the future helipad will be near a service road, and due to visual reasons, it will not have lights or a fuel tank. All of this is done in order to avoid any impact on the historic structures on the property.

Architects agree that this is the most sensible, logical plan and a good location. Still, there are those who consider the helipad disruptive – most notably, the residents and their attorneys. They are urging the authorities to reconsider the placement of the helipad, but commission members disagree, saying that it’s impossible for the area not to be impacted by the arrival of the president.

There have already been various other suggestions for the placement of the helipad – a commission member asked why the helipad couldn’t be grass, similar to the White House helipad, and the answer provided by the representatives of the White House is that Marine One pilots are not as familiar with the area.

Town of Palm Beach Landmarks Preservation Commission Approves Mar-a-Lago Helipad

Rick Gonzalez, current architect of Mar-a-Lago, said that there have also been talks of putting the landing pad in the ocean instead on the lawn, but according to him, the lawn plan is the only one that would work due to safety reasons and its distance from the historic easement that has to be protected as an important element of the national trust and the town.

The next step of the helipad construction is applying for building permits. Once they’re acquired, it is estimated the helipad will be completed in about a month’s time after the start of construction. The pad is planned to be removed once President Trump’s term ends, in four or eight years.