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LIHUE -- The Kauai County Planning Department has hit the state Aviation Division with a citation for allowing the construction of a fuel tank and office building without county permits at Burns Field adjacent to Port Allen. State is cited
for Burns Field
work on KauaiBy Anthony Sommer
Kauai correspondentThe county citation orders the state to either apply for the required permits or tear down the structures. The airport is in a special management area, which requires county permits for any form of development.
Ironically, the construction at Burns Field was done to accommodate Air 1 Helicopters, which provide all helicopter services to both the Kauai Fire Department and Kauai Police Department under a contract with the county.
Air 1, owned by Ken D'Attilio, is paid between $50,000 and $100,000 annually, depending on how many missions it flies. Air 1 also provides tours and takes construction crews to remote work sites.
On Dec. 10, Air 1 was forced to move out of property next to Burns Field that it had been leasing for many years.
Earlier, the Airports Division asked Kauai County for permits to put up facilities at Burns Field. Built in 1929 and once Kauai's primary airfield, the airport now is rarely used.
All of the other helicopter companies on Kauai are based either at Lihue Airport or the privately-owned Princeville Airport. D'Attilio said the best he could do was to get on a waiting list for Lihue Airport. "What was I going to do? I have employees, I have customers, I've got to operate from somewhere. I did what I checked out to be legal," he said.
D'Attilio said the office building is a mobile home and that he was told by Kauai Police they consider it a vehicle rather than a building.
South shore residents were divided on upgrading Burns, also called Port Allen Airport. Some said it would increase tourism spending; others said it would provide only noise and dust.
Strong opposition came from Hawaiians who use the salt ponds adjacent to the airport. Even though the airport has existed for more than 70 years without any fuel spills polluting the salt ponds, Wilma Holi, whose family has gathered salt at the ponds for generations, sued the state.
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