The Haines Borough Assembly limited the number of days a controversial heliport at Mile 26 Haines Highway can operate and added new requirements for a year-end renewal process. Under the new restrictions, the heliport, which belongs to George and Lynette Campbell, can operate only 12 days per year, and no more than three days in a row. The planning commission is required to hold a public meeting at the end of the year to review the conditions of the permit.

The decision to add restrictions could end months of contentious arguing over the legality of the permit, but opponents of the heliport said a lawsuit against the borough could still be on the table.

“I think it was a very genuine effort to try to make it less egregious, but they still have to recognize that without enforcement, there’s no assurance that the conditions will be followed,” said Nicholas Szatkowski, one of the people who appealed the borough’s permit.

The borough planning commission approved a conditional use permit for the heliport on May 11 with a handful of restrictions. But the decision drew immediate pushback from residents of the area, who argued the planning commission ignored the residential character of the neighborhood, and did not follow proper procedure.

At a June 27 meeting, residents asked the assembly to reconsider the commission’s decision to grant the permit. An absent assembly member led to a 3-2 vote to rehear the issuance of the permit that failed. Residents complained that there was little public notice about the option to postpone the meeting.

On Tuesday, residents also voiced frustrations over the inconsistencies of denying a heliport permit in the Mile 24 neighborhood but allowing one at Mile 26.

“None of this makes legal sense. Nobody wants to go to court, but we will,” resident Nick Jans said at the Tuesday meeting. Jans and others asked the assembly to revoke the heliport permit entirely. An effort to revoke the permit by assembly member Debra Schnabel failed.

Planning commissioner Diana Lapham said that the planning commission deliberated long and hard before it granted the permit. “If I had to do it all over again I would, because we’re not here only to protect the community and the appellants…We’re here to protect the people that submit applications that want to maybe have a little more economy,” she said.

The original conditions of the May 11 permit limited helicopter operations to between 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The planning commission also prohibited development within 25 feet of the banks of anadromous fish streams, and authorized the permit as a one-year trial that will be reviewed next May.

In his testimony, George Campbell said he would like clarification on what the one-year review entails and how it’s going to be carried out. On Tuesday, the Assembly added the requirement of reporting of annual dates and characteristics of usage, and a public hearing of the experience of residents of the area during the review.

Outside of the 12 days, the Campbells also can apply to the planning commission for up to three days of additional use, under conditions approved Tuesday. The assembly also required the Campbells to share GPS coordinates of the four corners of the heliport, an issue that came up after appellants complained of construction work on the banks of the Little Salmon River.

George Campbell declined to comment after the meeting.