READINGTON -- Residents may be able to vote on the township’s use of a $22 million bond ordinance approved in February to attempt to buy the development rights to Solberg-Hunterdon Airport and its surrounding open space.

In a written statement released Thursday, airport co-owner Thor Solberg said more than 1,800 signatures have been collected on a petition to force a public vote on the township’s use of the bond.

Mayor Gerard Shamey has said buying the development rights to the 76-acre airport would prevent an expansion of the airport’s main runway from its licensed length of 3,735 feet to the roughly 5,000 feet officials said the Solberg family proposed during previous talks with the township. The township also wants to buy 650 acres of open space surrounding the airport on Thor Solberg Road.

Shamey has said the proposed expansion would permit jet traffic, which officials argue would negatively affect property values and quality of life.

Roughly 969 signatures, or 15 percent of the number of township residents who voted in the 2005 general election, are needed on a petition to force a special referendum for a public vote.

Hunterdon County Clerk Dorothy Tirpok said Township Administrator Vita Mekovetz would review the petition to ensure the required number of signatures has been met and schedule the possible referendum.

Mekovetz did not return calls for comment Thursday.

The cost of the bond to taxpayers would vary greatly, depending on whether the township could get a state Green Acres grant and a low-interest loan from the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust, Committeeman Frank Gatti has said.

The Township Committee on Feb. 21 voted unanimously to approve the bond ordinance, which Shamey has said was initiated to offer the Solbergs a "contingency-free cash offer" for the airport’s development rights and open space.

The airport’s owners, siblings Thor and Lorraine Solberg and Suzanne Solberg-Nagle, have said repeatedly that the airport is not for sale and that they believe the passage of the bond ordinance is a step toward eminent domain of the airport.

"Many people signed the petition because they believe it’s wrong for the government to take your property," Thor Solberg said in the written statement. "But many others think it’s wrong for the town to increase debt so much without their approval. Whatever the reason, it’s a victory for the taxpayers."

Committeewoman Julia Allen said Thursday that the township knew about the petition and was not surprised to hear the matter may result in a public vote.

"I think we’ve been expecting it, and I think we’re happy to have the opportunity to put the question to the voters," Allen said. "We knew this was part of the procedure, and we knew they (the Solbergs) had been working on the petition."