But will solar palace have a helicopter pad?

Will the helicopter guy appear again before City Council? Tonight, the council is supposed to decide on a rezoning that’s been getting a lot of, well, snickering in private. What people are saying, all off the record of course, is: “Watch the helicopters video.” If you do a YouTube search on the petitioner’s name, David Thompson, and “helicopters” you’ll get a video of a City Council public hearing from Jan. 28, 2002.

I hear it’s one of the “greatest hits” around City Hall.

(4:48 PM addendum: It’s come to my attention that longtime devotees of this video might like to read the actual minutes from the council meeting where the helicopter guy appeared. Here’s a link. Check Page 11. I also hear some Charlotte folks have memorized the guy’s speech and recite it at parties.)

Here’s a link to a story when the project was first proposed last summer. And here’s a link to an artist’s rendering of the finished project. The idea is for a 12-unit multifamily building that would maximize solar energy principles. The proposal “is consistent with adopted land use plans and policies,” the planning staff analysis says. But they’re recommending against an OK, because of “the 60-foot height and the architecture associated with the project.”