The Haines Borough Assembly Tuesday night reversed the planning commission’s decision to grant a conditional use permit (CUP) for a Chilkat River Adventures heliport at 24 Mile Haines Highway. The assembly voted 5-1 with Debra Schnabel, Ben Aultman-Moore, Cheryl Stickler, Gabe Thomas, and Tyler Huling in favor and Jerry Lapp in opposition to reversing the decision.

The assembly reconsidered the approval of Chilkat River Adventures co-owner Sean Gaffney’s CUP application after four residents and the Chilkat Indian Village (CIV) appealed the decision.

Borough code requires eight criteria to be met in order for a CUP to be approved.

Criteria one requires an avoidance of “undue noise,” “nuisances” and “other dangers.” Schnabel motioned that the applicant did not provide sufficient evidence that criteria one had been met. Aultman-Moore seconded the motion.

“Besides the compelling empirical evidence we saw from the noise studies regarding helicopters, at least for me, the more important point is, we have heard from many potentially affected neighbors and residents that they will be in fact disturbed by helicopters,” Aultman-Moore said. “To me, to deny this point and say ‘well, you won’t be disturbed that much’ would be to distrust that homeowners and landowners know what is harmonious for their lives, families, businesses and homes, which I find to be a really disturbing judgment especially in light of the CIV’S testimony and objection.”

CIV Vice President Jones Hotch said two Native allotments are within 1,500 feet of the proposed heliport site. Jess Kayser Forster assisted CIV in the appeal, referencing noise studies that indicated helicopter noise level would exceed that recommended by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in residential areas. Forster also cited a 2016 court case where a judge ruled that a previous Haines Planning Commission was justified in denying a Big Salmon Ventures heliport two miles away due to noise concerns.

Gaffney said comparing the two permit areas was unfair. “The way sound travels through those areas is not the same,” he said. “I think it’s wrong to construe them as being the same. They’re not.”

Resident Riley Hall, who operates a telehealth counseling service from his home near the proposed site, expressed concern that helicopter noise would disrupt his business.

“I am not satisfied that the operation would avoid undue noise,” Hall said. “My main reason for thinking that is that my property is 650 meters away from it. During the heliski season…that noise comes right to my door.”

Borough manager Annette Kreitzer said they recommended the CUP to only be issued for one year so borough staff could better understand whether noise would impact the nearby residents.

Assembly member Stickler said while she is a “strong advocate for the heliski industry,” she sympathized with residents who were concerned about noise, including Hall’s counseling business.

“One of things that resonated was the purpose of CUP, which is to address issues of community-wide importance and in this case, the community-wide importance is that neighborhood and those residences there,” Stickler said. “I’m really listening closely to the impacts on the residents. I’m also considering that there is already an established business that will be affected 650-700 meters away from the heliport. It will affect that family and that business.”

Lapp, the only assembly member to vote in approval of criteria one, cited his vote to industrial machinery already in the area.

“This area is about half industrial,” Lapp said. “You’ve got a rock crusher there, you’ve got a rock washer there and you have another pit just down the highway. You do have that noise. You also have river adventures that run in summer time and they run quite a bit longer. With the other things going on here, I think this site is acceptable to this venture.”

Haines Borough Code requires all eight criteria to be approved in order to grant a CUP, therefore the 5-1 vote denying criteria one made the application ineligible for approval. The assembly still discussed criteria four, requiring the permit be consistent with the borough’s comprehensive plan. The motion failed 3-3, with Aultman-Moore, Schnabel, and Huling in favor and Thomas, Stickler, Lapp in opposition.

The assembly agreed unanimously that the planning commission’s Dec. 8. 3-2 vote was valid.

The planning commission approved the CUP for a Chilkat River Adventures heliport on Chilkat River Adventures’ property along the Chilkat River near Wells Bridge in December. The permit’s approval sparked opposition from two dozen residents, the Chilkat Indian Village (CIV) of Klukwan, the Klukwan school advisory board and Lynn Canal Conservation (LCC).