Still a Hella (Ella Ella) Good Fight Over a Helipad

Earlier this year, a fight broke out over the placement of a helipad at SF General. In short, proponents of the plan say it could save lives but opponents of the plan say it's not necessary and damn, those helicopters are loud. They also point out that those helicopters occasionally crash. Good thing there'll be a helipad nearby. Recently, the battle has flared anew with a proposed helipad at UCSF.

SF General UCSF has been holding several community meetings over the issue and came up with several proposals to alleviate concern. The proposals include changing the flight plan so the helicopters spend more time over the Bay than the city, moving the helipad to the northern-most corner of the hospital, and having the elevator shaft in the southern-most section of the northern-most section to cut down on noise. They even flew a test run over the weekend to show neighbors that the helicopter wasn't really that loud. Neighbors, however, still weren't convinced, especially about the noise. Said Rebecca Sawyer, an organizer with Stop the Helipad: "it's loud-- like a vacuum cleaner."

The battle has been raging online, where residents are battling over what to do, what to do. Those in support of the helipad say saving lives is good. Others, however, say there wouldn't be such of a need for a helicopter if only people stopped getting into so many damn accidents.