Local Officials May Proceed With Study Anyway

The FAA has announced it will not participate in funding a master plan at Hilton Head Island Airport in South Carolina.

The airport is owned by Beaufort County, but lies within the town of Hilton Head. The two jurisdictions have fought over airport expansion for years, as ANN has reported.

On March 10, the town council passed an ordinance prohibiting any expansion of the airport's 4,300-foot runway without council approval. The resulting impasse drew an angry response from the South Carolina Division of Aeronautics at the time.

Now, it's also cost the airport FAA funding for its growth plan.

"We're talking about home rule and the right of the town to set its own regulations," said County administrator Gary Kubic. "That should not necessarily interfere with the master plan, which is partly embraced by the town itself."

The county has hinted it may fund the study locally, at a cost of between $250,000 and $350,000. The Hilton Head Island Packet newspaper reports the town council has agreed to the study, and could reverse the zoning change given a suitable growth agenda.

For the moment, however, no one is entirely sure where that money would come from, if it doesn't come from the FAA.

"We'll take it one step at a time," David Ames, chairman of the Aviation Advisory Board, adding "we're all going to have to put our heads together and come up with [an alternate funding source]."

The FAA has also suggested that if the two governments can end the squabble and agree to move forward with airport improvements, reimbursement for the study later is not out of the question.

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.bcgov.net, www.hiltonheadairport.com