After more than two years of study, hundreds of pages of hearing examiner decisions and appeals, and multiple public hearings, the Bellevue City Council on Monday approved a permit allowing helicopters to land on a downtown office building.

The council will now look at imposing either a moratorium on new helistop pads, or a targeted code change while the impacts are studied further.

“It would essentially call a timeout on all of these until we can have that deeper look at it that we all wanted,” said Council Member Claudia Balducci.

The conditional-use permit allows up to five landings-takeoffs per week on top of the 21-story Bank of America Building, located at 10500 N.E. Eighth St. A maximum of four landings will be allowed from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, and one on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Council members voted 6-0 (Councilman Grant Degginger was absent) in favor of granting the permit to Kemper Development Company. The company of downtown property owner Kemper Freeman Jr. applied for the permit in 2009. The helistop was constructed in 1988, and temporary permits have allowed for limited landings since that time.

Approval came after the council tightened several permit conditions out of concern about potential impacts on downtown residents. Changes mean that helicopters must adhere to a strict flight path above freeways and Northeast Eighth Street only; Kemper Development must document deviations in hours or frequency of operation; and the city has a right to modify or revoke the permit.