Although the City of Austin approved two controversial temporary helipads Nov. 8 for the Nov. 17 weekend of the United States Grand Prix, council members responded to the public's discord by amending the city code to limit the number of takeoffs and landings.

The council also directed City Manager Marc Ott to make recommendations to further amend the code relating to permanent and temporary helicopter-related facilities by March 31.

"It's good for our economy, and we like having guests come to our city, but we are reaching a tipping point," Councilwoman Laura Morrison said.

Mayor Lee Leffingwell said though he agreed that the ordinance does need to be evaluated and amended to adequately address new situations such as Formula One, he disagreed with the idea of taking immediate action on the topic.

"I think approval of [immediately amending the city code] would send a bad message," Leffingwell said. "It has absolutely no effect on what's going to happen [during F1 weekend]. But we do need to make some changes, and it needs to be done in a thoughtful process."