Hilton Head airport expansion out of line

At a recent Beaufort County Airports Board meeting, it was divulged that the county needs to purchase 25 percent (about an acre) of the Public Storage facility next to the gas station at Mathews Drive and William Hilton Parkway for an undisclosed sum, to accommodate the south-end expansion of the Hilton Head Airport.

Interestingly, this is the most recent acreage purchase of several since the Airport Master Plan was adopted in 2010.

Perhaps the Packet could summarize the total property acquired to date, listing cost and sources within the county budget to show the taxpayers’ contributions to these efforts.

For those of us who remember the adoption of the master plan by both the county and Town of Hilton Head Island in October 2010, a resolution barely passed by both councils mandated any expansion had to be within the then-existing airport boundaries. This edict has been violated numerous times, including this latest purchase.

The benefits/cost analysis required by the FAA to justify the expansion needed an extraordinary increase of commercial service, which did not happen. Commercial enplanements are down from 85,100 in 2007 to 38,900 in 2016 — a precipitous drop of more than 50 percent.

It is disconcerting that the newspaper does not look into these issues through its investigative reporting efforts.

If the Hilton Head Airport were economically important to the community, it would seem easy to prove with a little journalistic digging.

This story was originally published May 4, 2017 at 3:42 PM with the headline "Hilton Head airport expansion out of line."