LEAWOOD ? Some of Greg Barnhill’s neighbors think the vehicle he uses to commute to work is way too noisy especially on takeoffs and landings.

Barnhill, an orthopedic surgeon who saves time by flying a rented helicopter to and from work about once a week, is based out of North Kansas City Hospital in Missouri. He also works at other Missouri hospitals, including those in Lexington and Carrollton.

But some Leawood residents say the chopper is too noisy and dangerous to be landing in back yards. The neighbors’ concern prompted the Leawood City Council to take up a proposed ordinance Monday night that would ban aircraft from taking off and landing in the suburban residential community.

“I’m not quite sure what offends people about this small little helicopter,” said Barnhill. “There’s a mean-spirited segment of our population who likes to stand in the way of any kind of progress.”

Twice, he has landed it near his home in north Leawood, he said. The first time was in June when he wanted to get home faster. Most recently was in August, when he landed in a neighbor’s back yard because he needed to get home quickly.

The city received about half a dozen telephone complaints from residents about noise and their fear that an aircraft might be crashing, said Jeff Cantrell, neighborhood services administrator.

That led to Monday night’s council consideration of a ban on such landings. The council voted 8-0 to approve an ordinance banning the takeoff or landing of aircraft on land in Leawood without the prior written approval of the City Council.

The city already can cite people who operate aircraft with disturbing the peace, Cantrell said, but staff members wanted to deal with the specific issue by proposing an ordinance.

“North Leawood is a pretty densely populated area,” Cantrell said. “There are not too many areas conducive to flight operations, partly because of the noise results.”

Barnhill says it’s much ado about nothing.

“The noise level from that size helicopter is less than the garbage truck picking up trash early on Monday,” Barnhill said.

Barnhill said his neighbors probably would hear the helicopter for about 30 seconds as he landed and for about two minutes as he started up the aircraft and took off.

Still, he said he would abide by the council’s decision. But he said the city should designate a piece of grass on which helicopters may land.

“As sprawling communities grow, helicopters become a much more usable and expeditious means of transportation because of the degree of traffic congestion that begins to occur,” he said.