After years of litigation and a fresh permit hearing last week, George and Lynette Campbell still do not have a permit to operate a heliport at their 26 Mile property.
On Thursday, the Haines Borough Planning Commission voted to deny the permit application, potentially setting an end to a now three-year controversy.
The issue arose in 2023, when the borough sent the Campbells a cease-and-desist letter for unpermitted helicopter landings at their 26 Mile airstrip following neighbors’ complaints.
Since then, the issue has been a complex web of permit hearings, rehearings, and legal challenges.
The Campbells have taken the borough to Alaska Superior Court twice. The first came in response to the cease-and-desist order; the second followed a borough assembly decision to permit the heliport, but with conditions that the Campbells argued were unlawful. A third case was settled out of court this fall.
Meanwhile, a group of neighbors opposing the heliport also took the borough to Superior Court on the other side of the issue.
The Superior Court has largely backed the borough on the issue, deciding in favor of the borough on the Campbells’ first appeal. Judge Larry Woolford also largely supported the borough’s arguments in a written decision in the second suit, but sent the case back to the borough assembly, asking the borough assembly provide more justification for their actions.
Part of the most recent settlement was an agreement that the borough rehear the permit once more at the Planning Commission level, leading to last week’s meeting.
But commissioners seemed confused about the purpose of the meeting and the legal limitations of their power.
Commissioner Derek Poinsette, for one, said he was unclear if the commission was meant to review the permit conditions, or consider the permit as a new permit, or something in between.
“I spent quite a bit of time with the packet, and I can’t make heads or tails of what we’re supposed to be doing tonight,” commissioner Derek Poinsette said.
Some in the audience chalked the confusion up to commissioners “not doing their homework,” as Don Turner Jr. put it. But the commissioners did face some challenges in understanding their task.
For one, the judge’s written decision on the second court case was not included in the meeting documents. Commissioners did not receive information on the case until they were given hard copies of the decision mid-meeting by George Campbell.
The commissioners also had less legal expertise at their disposal than the permit applicants. The Campbells were represented by their attorney, Scott Brandt-Erichsen, who argued commissioners only had limited authority to review the conditions of the permit.
Brandt-Erichsen also said the borough did not have legal authority to regulate heliports on the basis of noise — one of the main complaints from neighboring residents.
Finally, Brandt-Erichsen called a memo from borough manager Alekka Fullerton laying out options for the planning commission “defective” and “ridiculous.”
While Fullerton pushed back on Brandt-Erichsen’s claims, there was no borough attorney present.
That raised the hackles of some in the room, including Nick Szatkowski, a member of the opposing citizens group.
“Scott Brandt-Erichsen is not here to advise you all about what is proper borough procedure,” Szatkowski said. “He is a spokesperson for the Campbells, who have held three separate hostile lawsuits against the jurisdiction and decision-making of the borough. Don’t assume he is advising you.”
In the end, the planning commission seemed to largely rely on advice from Fullerton.
Fullerton’s opinion to the commission was that they were meant to review the entire permit — not just the permit conditions — and that they did have the legal authority to consider the impact of noise.
The commission voted 3-2 to deny the permit, with commissioners Nathanael Reams and Jerry Lapp voting to approve the permit. Commissioner Dan Schultz was not present at the meeting, and commissioner Erika Merklin — a member of the neighborhood group opposing the heliport — recused herself based on a conflict of interest.
Commissioners largely focused on one conditional permit use condition, that the activity “avoid undue noise and other nuisances and dangers.” Reams, even though he would go on to vote in favor of the permit, said the permit failed the noise and debris condition, describing video evidence provided as “pretty stark.”
Some commissioners also said the application did not meet a condition that it be “in harmony with the comprehensive plan and surrounding land uses.”
The Campbells did not respond to phone calls or an email seeking comment after the meeting.
Editors note: This article has been updated to reflect that George and Lynette Campbell have sued the Haines Borough regarding their heliport three times. The first suit was decided in favor of the Haines Borough but has been appealed to the Alaska Supreme Court where it awaits a hearing. The second suit was remanded to the Haines Borough Assembly. The most recent suit was settled out of court.