ROCKY MOUNT -- The Franklin County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to approve two separate helipads in the Westlake area near Smith Mountain Lake.

The board first voted 5-2 to approve a special-use permit for a helipad that will be attached to a medical facility but also used by a commercial business. It later voted unanimously to approve a similar permit for a helipad sponsored by Carilion Health System that will be used only for medical purposes.

The more controversial of the two projects is associated with Westlake Medical, a planned urgent-care medical facility run by Dr. Diane Rowell, who operates Bedford Family Urgent Care. The helipad would be paid for, built and largely used by Tom Alouf, co-owner of All American Aviation, All American Auto Spa and Alouf Construction and Development.

Gills Creek Supervisor Russell Johnson said he'd come into the meeting opposed to the project, but changed his mind over the course of the evening and made the motion to approve it. Rocky Mount Supervisor Charles Wagner seconded the motion, and it passed on a 5-2 vote. Union Hall Supervisor Charles Poindexter and Boone Supervisor David Hurt cast the dissenting votes.

The approval also included a condition that Alouf make no more than 25 flights per month.

Johnson said that thoughts about the Smith Mountain Lake community's "longtime struggle for urgent care" ultimately swayed his vote in support of the helipad.

"I think you've got to take a bird in the hand," Johnson said.

Poindexter said he was worried about setting a precedent by approving a permit because of its link to a mostly unrelated business.

The public hearing that preceded the vote included 16 speakers who spoke passionately for and against the helipad.

Doug MacKechnie of Moneta said he wanted urgent-care medical service at Westlake, but thought the fact it was tied to a helipad to be used for private flights was disingenuous.

Nancy Atkins had similar thoughts.

"I don't want to oppose urgent care but I don't want to open up Westlake to private charter flights," Atkins said.

But Jim Tate of Montego Bay said that it made sense, seeing that urgent-care service is difficult to finance without partnerships. Tate said Rowell, who's said she'll run hours from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., will dramatically increase the chances that a person can find medical treatment at the lake.

And "the helicopter pad makes this a viable idea from a financial point of view," Tate said.

Bill Brush, another lake resident, said the "benefits clearly outweigh whatever negatives may be associated with this."

The second helipad generated much less controversy, largely because Carilion plans to use it exclusively for medical purposes.

Johnson made the motion to approve the permit, with Poindexter providing the second.

There had been concerns at last month's planning commission meeting that a helicopter leaving the Carilion site would fly over Booker T. Washington National Monument, but Carilion has since changed the planned flight path to avoid the park.

Carilion plans to build not only a helipad but also an imaging center and urgent care facility in Westlake Towne Center, which is just across Virginia 122 from Westlake Medical.

Carilion likely will begin construction of its project in fall 2008. The first phase will include urgent care, a rotation of specialty physicians, a laboratory, an imaging center and the helipad.