Should a planned helipad at Mar-a-Lago be allowed to remain beyond the end of President Donald Trump’s second term in the White House?
That is the request from the U.S. Secret Service, set to be considered by the Palm Beach Town Council at a meeting that begins at 9:30 a.m. April 14 in Council Chambers at Town Hall, 360 S. County Road.
When council members in October granted permission for a helicopter landing pad to be installed on Mar-a-Lago’s west lawn, they did so with the condition that the concrete pad be removed at the end of Trump’s presidency. That also was a condition put into place when the first helipad was approved and built in 2017. That one was then demolished in 2021 after Trump left the White House.
The Secret Service said the pad needs to remain beyond the end of Trump’s second term and for as long as someone protected by the agency lives at Mar-a-Lago, given “the now significant threat assessment against President Donald J. Trump and his family,” attorney Harvey Oyer with Shutts & Bowen wrote to the town in a letter dated April 1.
“Maintaining the helipad at the property provides the USSS and other agencies a full portfolio of evacuation options for any contingency encountered,” he wrote. “Additionally, the helipad landing zone allows for response to a mass casualty incident at the property. This is primarily for the protection of the President and his family but also for the protection of the club members, guests, staff and resident law enforcement at Mar-a-Lago.”
The helipad will be built this summer while the club is closed, Oyer wrote.
The town on Dec. 12 issued a permit for construction of the new temporary helicopter landing zone, records show. Mar-a-Lago paid about $7,746 in fees to acquire the permit that expires Dec. 12, 2026, according to the permit card.
The value of the construction is $264,593, town records show.
West Palm Beach-based Moroney Construction LLC will carry out the work, according to the permit. The contractor as of April 13 had yet to file the notice of commencement that is required for construction to begin, according to Palm Beach County records.
The new pad will be 8 inches deep, with an 18-foot long and 5-foot wide walkway connected to a nearby service road. The landing area is on Mar-a-Lago’s west lawn, in the same location where it was from 2017 to 2021.
The public can participate in person at Town Hall or digitally via Zoom during the April 14 meeting. More information is available at the “Public Meetings” page at TownofPalmBeach.com.
Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Subscribe today to support our journalism.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Feds ask Palm Beach to keep Mar-a-Lago helipad beyond Trump’s term
Reporting by Kristina Webb, Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Daily News
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