"FAA Pulls Funds For Hilton Head Airport Master Plan"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Thursday, April 24, 2008

FAA Pulls Funds For Hilton Head Airport Master Plan 
Local Officials May Proceed With Study Anyway
Aero-News Network


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.


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