On Tuesday night (7/11), the Haines Borough Assembly discussed what restrictions to put on the Campbell heliport, located 26 miles from town. In a now familiar scenario, a string of residents pleaded with the local government to protect their neighborhood from excessive noise. The assembly put some restrictions in place, but these may not satisfy the neighbors.
The Haines borough assembly discussed the heliport issue for over three hours at their meeting.
It started with a presentation by residents appealing the borough’s decision to issue a heliport permit to the Campbells. The couple want to continue flights from their property.
Appellant Jessica Plachta cited a new analysis of the impacts of noise.
Plachta: “And it particularly drew out the effect of dramatic fluctuations in noise levels as being exceptionally harmful. Risk of dying from a heart attack starting at just 35 decibels increases by 4.3% for every 10 decibels. That’s a measurable health effect on us.”
Nicholas Szatkowski talked of diminished property values for the neighborhood.
Szatkowski: “Value does not equate to money. There are many kinds of value that all of us recognize. We all can understand friendship, many other things have value that are just not equatable with money. So if you can’t have quiet use and enjoyment on your property, that is a diminishment of value.”
Mayor Doug Olerud reminded the appellants that the meeting was focused exclusively on placing restrictions on the existing permit and that protesting the permit’s existence altogether may not be useful.
John Kopaunik also spoke against the heliport. He said he has over 50 years of experience in aviation.
Kopaunik: “I’m a commercial helicopter pilot, I’ve worked in maintenance, but I didn’t move 2500 miles to listen to a helicopter. I have hearing aids because of them. And I have helicopters flying over my property close enough that I could take a rock and hit it.”
Nick Jans said the borough had double standards when it comes to permitting.
Jans: “I just don’t understand how chickens can be illegal within the city limits here, but it’s fine to stick that thing out there out in the middle of a neighborhood. And it seems to be that because we live out there, we are not on the same plane, that we don’t deserve peaceful enjoyment of our neighborhood.”
But property owner George Cambell defended his right to bring aircrafts to his property.
Campbell: “A lot of us moved out there to do the fun stuff. We want to be able to shoot our guns, we want to be able to drive our dump trucks, use our excavators.”
He said so far he has been allowing few flights from his property, but that going through the permitting process could push him to increase traffic.
Campbell: “My neighbors complained, the borough then made the decision that routine commercial would be even one helicopter landing. Well this set off this firestorm that we have now. Now I have time and money invested in this. Am I going to do just six landings a year? I don’t know. But if I’m going to go through this kind of effort, I want to do routine flights.”
Many residents wanted to know why this permit was issued when comparable ones had not.
Assembly member Gabe Thomas explained his reasoning. He said the Campbell airstrip has increased the noise levels in the neighborhood since previous heliports were rejected based on excessive noise.
Thomas: “Airkat Park came in after. So how do these noise studies are hardly even valid at that point? The noise characteristics have changed since that airport has been put in. At 24 miles, it doesn’t have an airport right next to it.”
The assembly proceeded with the discussion of flight restrictions. After some back and forth, with assembly member Debra Shnabel proposing to revoke the permit, and assembly member Jerry Lapp proposing to permit 24 flight days, the assembly voted to restrict flights to 12 days per year, with no more than 3 consecutive days, and five days between “helicopter events”.
Hours of operation for taxi landings are limited, from 8 am to 5 pm
The Campbells can apply for three extra days to the Planning Commission. Their permit will be reviewed in a year, with a public hearing in front of the Planning Commission to hear the neighbor’s experience. The Campbells will have to report on the dates and types of use at the heliport.
Residents expressed some skepticism. They pointed to the lack of enforcement in the past. Erika Merklin spoke about her experience as a neighbor trying to get the borough to act on her complaints.
Merklin: “It’s taken a lot of my personal time. I’ve been ignored for months, and had to spend time doing a public records request to see what actually was going on with multiple violations that had been reported to the borough.”
Marvin Willard Jr doubted the self-reporting would be effective.
Willard: “I’m just concerned why they are allowing someone who is under watch to make his own assessment. He is just going to tell you guys what you want to hear.”
Many residents have brought up the possibility of suing the borough if the heliport is approved.
Correction: An eqarlier version of this story misidentified a speaker. Marvin Willard Jr testified, not Brian Willard
