The location of George and Lynette Campbell’s heliport.
George and Lynette Campbell are appealing in state superior court a July decision by the Haines assembly to add restrictions on a heliport near Mile 26.
The assembly tightened an earlier conditional use permit the planning commission had given the Campbells that had few restrictions. Under the assembly’s permit, the Campbells can operate only 12 days per year, no more than three days in a row, and the planning commission is required to hold a public meeting at the end of the year to review the conditions of the permit. In August, the Campbells resumed an earlier administrative appeal filed this spring over the issue.
The move means the borough is facing administrative appeals from both sides of the issue. Immediately after the assembly approved the conditional use permit, Nicholas Szatkowski and more than a dozen other neighbors filed their own appeal, asserting no heliport should be allowed in the primarily residential area.
The Campbells’ appeal, filed Aug. 16, asserts the borough overstepped its authority by deciding that a conditional use permit is required for a heliport, since the airport was already permitted by the Federal Aviation Administration. Borough code defines heliports as requiring conditional use permits even in general use zoning. The appeal calls the borough’s definition of heliports “void for vagueness” and says restrictions the borough imposed on the Campbells’ heliport are “arbitrary and capricious.”
A date for the hearing hasn’t been set. If the appeal fails, the Campbells could appeal to the state supreme court.