A private heliport at Christian Faith Center church, 33645 20th Ave. S, is not welcome to the neighborhood, several Garden Court Condominiums residents told a hearing examiner Dec. 10.

The heliport will be used when shuttling pastors Casey and Wendy Treat via helicopter to and from the church’s Everett and Federal Way locations. Most activity will take place late Sunday mornings and some Wednesdays and holidays, said Matt Cyr, land development planner with Abbey Road Group, which is overseeing the proposal.

“It’s not something you use on a whim,” he said. “It’s something you use to meet deadlines.”

An air taxi service would operate the helicopter, which would remain at the pad, located at the southeast corner of the church property, only long enough to pick up and drop off the Treats, Cyr said. The activity is not expected to greatly disturb citizens in the residential neighborhood, he said.

A noise study for the heli-pad was undergone in late May. The helicopter will create noise but only enough to raise the DBA, the scale used to measure noise as it would be heard by the human ear, by .2 notches, according to staff’s recommendation. This would bring noise levels — including the existing sounds of Interstate 5, Pacific Highway South, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport flights, commercial businesses and nearby Weyerhaeuser heliport pads — to 64.9 DBA, according to staff’s report. The city does not allow for noise exceeding 65 DBA in residential areas.

“It’s going to be hardly, if any, noticeable noise to anyone off-site because of the ambient noise,” Cyr said. “You hear I-5 and Pacific (Highway) and jets flying over, so when you take that and take maybe a five-minute event of a helicopter landing, it really makes no noise footprint over an hour’s time.”

The helicopter will be restricted to the Interstate 5 corridor and will not be permitted to fly over residences. Additionally, per the Federal Aviation Administration, it will not be authorized to fly during night hours.

The proposal fits into the city’s comprehensive plan and the project is recommended to move forward, senior planner Joanne Long-Woods told the hearing examiner.

“It’s been a very thorough and lengthy review,” Cyr said. “We agree with staff’s review of the project and are glad they are supporting our proposal.”

Residents near the church are less than thrilled about the city’s recommendation. Several condominium residents worry the helicopter will create disturbing noise. The presence of the mega-church has already interrupted their lives, Garden Court resident Brigitte Goble said.

The 220,000-square-foot building able to seat 4,500 visitors is overwhelming when large services are held there, she said. Goble said she does not understand why Treat needs a helicopter instead of traditional transportation.

“We’ve lived there for 17 years and when that church went in, everything changed for us,” she said. “We are retired people in those condos and we feel like we have just been invaded by one person across the street.”

The hearing examiner is expected to make a ruling on this project by the end of the year.