Clayton board unanimously approves special‑use permit to relocate and expand helistop at Johnston Medical Center

The Town of Clayton Board of Adjustment unanimously approved a special‑use permit on the evening of the hearing to relocate and enlarge a helistop at Johnston Medical Center.

The motion to grant Case 2025‑44‑SUP carried after staff and the applicant described the proposal and no members of the public offered testimony. Robert Tate, senior planner with the planning department, told the board the helistop had been permitted as a supportive hospital facility in a 2012 site plan but under the current Unified Development Ordinance the helistop is a secondary use that requires a special‑use permit when moved or expanded. "This request is to facilitate the relocation and expansion of an existing heli stop on the hospital's campus," Tate said.

Applicant Sam Bohannon, design engineer with Ingram Veil Engineering, said the proposal shifts the existing 40‑by‑40‑foot pad roughly 100 feet to the west and enlarges it to 50‑by‑50 feet after consultation with pilots. "They requested the helipad to be slightly larger just for ease of use for them when they're landing," Bohannon said. He and project representative Kyle McDermott identified the owner as Johnston Memorial Hospital Authority and noted a riparian buffer and landscaped area between the hospital and adjacent neighbors to the west.

Tate outlined standard conditions of approval and highlighted a required condition that the applicant install a 42‑inch aluminum fence around the new helistop to match the existing enclosure. The staff report, application materials, and packet exhibits were entered into the evidentiary record; board counsel Francis Rasberry reminded members that testimony requiring specialized expertise (traffic safety, valuation, etc.) should be offered by qualified experts when relevant.

Chair Marty Bizzle disclosed that his company consults for UNC Johnson Health and said the firm stands to gain no financial benefit from the item; board counsel Rasberry indicated that this relationship did not automatically trigger recusal under the statutory standard. "That's our legal opinion on that point," Rasberry said.

Board member Jim Perricone asked about operations; Bohannon and McDermott said the helistop averages about 30 helicopter trips per year. With no public speakers, Perricone moved to approve the SUP; after a second the board voted aye and the motion carried unanimously. The board also adopted the prepared findings of fact, conclusions, and order at the same meeting.

The permit approval allows the relocation and enlargement of the helistop at 2138 Veterans Parkway (Case 2025‑44‑SUP) subject to the conditions in the staff report, including the fence specification. The board took no changes to the conditions on the record and did not send the item back to technical review.