Homeowners near Hilton Head Airport seek $3.5M from Beaufort Co. after runway expansion
On one of the final days of March, Bob Arundell sat next to the public pool at Woodlake Villas, a residential community on the northern end of Hilton Head Island.
In his left hand, he held a piece of paper, detailing the flight schedule of the neighboring Hilton Head Island Airport. In the other, he held a map of Woodlake, the 224-unit complex where he has lived for more than 40 years. He traced a line on the map over the pool and a section of condos with his finger. This was the path the planes would take before landing, he said.
“Here it comes,” he said when the sound of birds chirping was overtaken by a distant whistle, which quickly turned to an overhead rumble.
Ten planes of varying sizes flew overhead throughout the hour spent by the pool. Two of the planes were larger than the others, both with the capability of carrying up to 78 passengers, according to flight data. Seconds after the planes were out of site, the tree tops surrounding the pool deck swayed.
Arundell is a member of the community’s board of directors. He was first elected to the board in 1991 and is one of the last original owners who bought their unit from the developer in 1984.
He, along with the other residents of the community claim that Beaufort County, the airport’s governing body, has violated an agreement regarding the use of the airspace above their property.
In 2014, an agreement between the homeowners and the county established rules for planes that fly above the complex. The lawsuit centers on the county’s violation of this agreement.
In seeking a remedy, in November the owners’ association and board of directors filed a lawsuit against the county, claiming a misuse of the easement agreement in the aftermath of the airport’s runway expansion project. They are asking for $3.5 million in damages.
The county has since denied these claims, according to court documents.
Lawsuit claims easement violation
The 49-page lawsuit alleges that Beaufort County violated an avigation easement following a 700-foot runway expansion in 2018. Avigation easements govern who controls the airspace above a property.
The lawsuit contends that the increase in “noise levels, vibrations and disturbances has and continues to adversely affect and interfere” with the community’s beneficial use of their property and property rights.
The airport was built in 1967. The residential community was established in 1983. The residential community is made up of one, two and three-bedroom units. According to a local real estate website, the units typically go for between $100,000 and $250,000.
Woodlake is just south of the airport’s runway. It is located on the opposite end of the runway from St. James Baptist Church, a historic chapel that is in the process of moving from its original location where it stood for over 100 years, out of the runway’s path.
It all started around 2010, the lawsuit said, when the county started planning for the runway extension. In 2014, Woodlake entered into the easement with the county. According to the complaint, the county needed this easement prior to completing the runway.
Abigail Walsh, an attorney for the community, said that Woodlake Villas agreed to a limited avigation easement. Without the agreement, she said, the county would have had to file a condemnation action to obtain the easement.
In the summer of 2018, the county completed the $27.5 million runway expansion project, which added 700 feet to the runway. Airport leaders at the time said the expansion would allow them to accommodate more modern planes and therefore more airlines. The complaint says that the expansion allowed for larger jets with larger carrying capacities to land at the airport.
The complaint also says that planes have flown through the airspace at “dangerously low heights.” An example is provided about a 26-foot limb that fell from a tree near the pool area after an aircraft collided with a tree in June.
Woodlake residents went to the county in 2021, claiming increased noise levels of the planes flying above their homes. The county denied those claims, according to the complaint The homeowners hired several consultants and surveying companies to collect data and conduct noise monitoring for the complex.
Following their investigation, the homeowners alleged that the county was in violation of the easement. The homeowners are asking for $3.5 million to cover punitive and property damage for the county’s alleged violation of the airspace agreement.
The attorneys representing the county did not respond to email inquires. Beaufort County’s spokesperson Hannah Nichols said that the county “cannot comment on pending litigation.”
