Courier News editors recently met with the parties on both sides of the issue to discuss the referendum, the airport and its future. One meeting was with Readington Township Committee member Julia C. Allen and Mayor Gerard J. Shamey. Another was with airport co-owner Thor Solberg. The following is a summary of some of the key points made by Allen, Shamey, Solberg and other involved parties on issues of significance regarding the referendum and the future of Solberg-Hunterdon Airport. When applicable, a third column provides additional detail.
Is Solberg-Hunterdon Airport about to expand?
READINGTON: Federal and state governments might force an expansion of general-aviation airports to cope with New York-area major airport congestion. Solberg-Hunterdon Airport’s federal status as a "reliever airport" could interest expansion-minded planners, as it did when the The Port Authority of New York began in the 1960s.
Also, the airport-developed Master Plan describes a lengthening of the main runway to accommodate larger, corporate jets.
"The plan to create a jetport has been around for over 30 years," Shamey said. "If the airport’s runway is extended beyond 4,000 feet, you have a jetport."
SOLBERG: The Solberg-Hunterdon Airport Master Plan, completed in 1997, forecasts the growth in general-aviation air traffic in the metropolitan region and describes at least three levels of response by the airport that might be needed to accommodate that demand. They range from no improvements whatsoever to the extension of the main runway, which would allow larger, heavier corporate jets to operate.
The Master Plan does not necessarily mean any of the improvements will be undertaken, Solberg said, but would be required if the family sought Federal Aviation Administration funding for them.
Solberg says the family would like only to repair, complete and possibly relocate the main runway and expand the tarmac for safety and maneuverability. He said this week he should have limited the Master Plan to those safety improvements.
"We have a 70-year history here, and we’ve never applied to stick a shovel in the ground," Solberg said. "I think the current administration just wants this property."
DETAIL: Overcrowded New York airports are still a problem, but the general-aviation airports most recently studied by the Federal Aviation Administration for possible expansion are:
What is the purpose of the $22 million bond question?
READINGTON: The money will allow the township to offer the Solberg family a "contingency-free" cash offer for the 76-acre airport’s development rights and the purchase of roughly 650 acres of open space surrounding the airport.
The township believes the airport is for sale because the Solberg family spent four years negotiating with the New Jersey Department of Transportation -- negotiations that ended in early 2005 without an agreement on price. Should the cash offer be refused, officials say the money will support a possible taking of the property through eminent domain -- which would require an additional authorizing vote by the Township Committee.
Eminent domain, says Shamey, would be pursued only as a last resort. Readington prefers to negotiate the purchase of development rights to the airport and surrounding property and that Solberg Aviation Co. continues to own and operate a small, recreational airport.
SOLBERG: The airport is not for sale, says Solberg, so the bond issue is merely a means to pursue eminent domain. The Solberg family says negotiations with the township over the airport’s future can continue without the special bond vote.
What is the value of the airport and surrounding open space?
READINGTON: Officials say $22 million for development rights to the 76-acre airport and purchase of 650 acres is accurate and based on the state Department of Transportation’s 2004 offer of $22 million for purchase of the airport.
The township also has commissioned an appraisal of the land -- which is zoned agricultural/residential with a minimum lot size of six acres -- which it says will be ready after the special election.
In the event the township’s appraisal comes in over $22 million, Allen said the township will most likely adjust its offer to increase the number of acres on which it would like to purchase development rights and decrease the number of acres of open space to purchase outright.
"We want to remain flexible," Allen said. "We did get a preliminary assessment in the summer of 2005, which indicated to us that this number ($22 million) would be sufficient."
SOLBERG: Solberg said that appraisal of the property completed a few years ago came in at approximately $40 million. He said the township’s valuation is a vast underestimation, since as many as 100 homes could be built on the surrounding open space.
If new appraisals exceed $22 million, Solberg said, Readington cannot authorize additional money for an acquisition since the borrowing limit is capped at $22 million.
Can Readington reject or limit airport expansion with its Planning Board and Board of Adjustment?
READINGTON: Because the FAA and N.J. Department of Transportation regulate air traffic and airports in New Jersey, municipalities have far less control over airport development than residential and commercial developments.
If either board rejects an airport expansion proposal, it could be overturned by the NJDOT.
Allen said the presentation of an expansion application to the local boards assumes the NJDOT has already approved the plan and has done the necessary Environmental Assessment study to support its position.
Readington also fears it might at any point be forced to comply with the New Jersey Air Safety and Zoning Act of 1983 -- and make the airport a "conforming use" on the site. Readington would then be forced to permit undefined "routine safety improvements" at the airport, Shamey said.
Furthermore, the township asserts that because Solberg Airport was designated by the FAA as a "reliever airport," federal planners who identify airports with the potential to expand for jet traffic might throw their weight behind a Solberg Airport expansion.
SOLBERG: In addition to approval by the NJDOT, Solberg says any proposed change to the airport would have to be approved by the township Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment, since the airport is currently considered a non-conforming, pre-existing use on the property.
Subsequently, Solberg said, the township has the authority to reject a proposal to expand the airport -- although the airport has not sought site plan approval for expansion.
NEW JERSEY SAYS: While the state has the authority to overrule local land use board decisions, NJDOT spokesperson Erin Phalon said it has a policy to abide by municipal decisions. The NJDOT has never overridden a municipal board’s decision regarding airport-related applications and "has no intention to do so" in the event an application involving Solberg Airport is brought before the Readington Planning and Zoning boards for approval.
Issue: What is the purpose of the Solberg-Hunterdon Airport Master and Layout plans?
READINGTON: In 1999, the NJDOT and FAA gave conditional approval to the airport’s "layout plan" -- a companion document to the Master Plan -- which Readington believes set in motion the mechanism for airport expansion. As a result, the township views the Master Plan as the blueprint for expansion.
The layout plan describes a main runway length of 4,890 feet (it is now licensed at 3,735 feet), a widening of the main runway from 50 feet to 100 feet, a shift of the main runway 300 feet to the northwest, and the conversion of the so-called "crosswinds" runway from a 3,440-foot turf runway to a 3,700-foot paved runway.
Pending the completion of an environmental study of the Master Plan’s feasibility, township officials said the plan could become a reality. "People do not realize that this plan is very far along," said Anthony Cicatiello, chairman of CN Communications, the public relations firm hired by the township for the special vote. "This is very real, and it could happen."
Readington has argued that an expansion of the airport’s main runway beyond 4,000 feet would make it able to accommodate larger jets. Such an expansion would lower neighboring property values and increase noise.
Shamey said it is also likely an expansion would require that both Holland Brook School and Readington Middle School be made soundproof and that Hillcrest Park be relocated, as the sites would be either in or extremely close to the airport’s revised Safety Zone.
SOLBERG: Solberg said the Master Plan was created at the request of the FAA, which uses the document as a way of protecting airspace and railbeds by analyzing an airport’s physical capabilities. It is not intended to be a projection of what the airport’s owners are planning to do to the facility, he said.
The completion of an airport Master Plan also makes an airport eligible for FAA funding if its owners decide to make changes to the facility, Solberg said. If Solberg Aviation Co. were to accept FAA funding for work on the airport facility, the company would have significantly less control over what types of aircrafts fly in and out of the airport, Solberg said. The airport has not applied for FAA funding, he said.
The Solberg Aviation Co. has no intention of expanding the airport, Solberg said, and believes the scope of the Master Plan should have been limited to a smaller-scale proposal that addressed only plans to improve, not expand, the airport.
"Now, we’ve raised a spectre that is haunting us," Solberg said.
Solberg said his plans for improving the safety of the airport are limited to paving the main runway to its licensed length of 3,735 feet, moving it 300 feet to the west, and paving the 3,440 foot crosswinds runway. He said he would also like to create additional hangar space, as 80 percent of the airport’s boarded airplanes are parked outside.
Small jets -- less noisy than small propeller aircraft -- and helicopters already use the airport, Solberg said.
MASTER PLAN: The Solberg-Hunterdon Airport Master Plan was completed in September 1997 by D & Z Transportation Services, a division of Day & Zimmerman Infrastructure Inc., at the request of the airport.
The associated Solberg Airport Layout Plan was conditionally approved by the NJDOT and FAA in 1999 pending the completion of an environmental assessment.
The plan described three alternatives:
Although both improvement alternatives of the Master Plan call for a maximum main runway length of 5,600 feet, the Airport Layout Plan that was conditionally approved ultimately calls for an incremental main runway length expansion to 4,300 feet and 4,890 feet.
While the lengthening of the airport’s main runway to more than 4,300 feet would allow the airport to accommodate "large planes" of more than 10 passengers, the Master Plan also indicates that those planes are already flying in and out of the airport. The Master Plan suggests that for safety purposes, the airport’s main runway should be extended to at least 4,300 feet to better accommodate aircrafts and ensure the safety of pilots already using the facility.
How would Readington’s purchase of Solberg property and development rights affect taxpayers?
READINGTON: Reimbursement funding is available for the acquisition, said Allen, but by 2007, it is likely there will be less money available.
The township has applied for a New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust $9.3 million, low-interest loan but needs the bond approval to go forward to qualify. The township says other sources of funding or funding assistance might be the state’s Green Acres program and the nonprofit Hunterdon Land Trust Alliance and New Jersey Conservation Foundation.
The Garden State Preservation Trust, which pays for the state’s Green Acres preservation program, has a 2007-2009 balance of more than $300 million. Allen says the money could be gone by next year.
If Readington receives the $9.3 million, the owner of a home assessed at the township’s average $400,000 would pay $55 more a year in taxes for the first three years and then $60 more a year for 20 years to pay for the acquisition.
Without the anticipated funding, a resident with a home assessed at $400,000 would pay $55 more a year in taxes for the first three years and $165 more for 20 years.
The $22 million bond will also raise the township’s debt from roughly $51 million to $73 million.
SOLBERG: It is highly unlikely the township will be reimbursed for the acquisition, said Solberg, because of the limited amount of state funding available. Readington is also negligent in pursuing the purchase of the airport purchase when it is still waiting for state reimbursements for more than $17 million for previous purchases, he said.
If the proceeds with condemnation under eminent domain, Solberg said, the township or a hired company could become the airport’s owner and operator -- the potential cost of which has not been presented to the taxpayers.
Solberg -- who is skeptical of the state’s willingness to provide funding for eminent domain acquisitions -- said if Readington initiates condemnation proceedings, it will lose any chance of reimbursement.
NEW JERSEY: New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust Executive Director Dennis Hart said the agency has provided funding for acquisitions involving condemnation, but requires applicants to make their intentions clear before it awards loans. Karen Hershey, spokesperson for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, said Green Acres funding can also be used by municipalities toward municipal land acquisitions involving condemnation.
from the Courier News website www.c-n.com
Copyright © 1997-2006 Courier News.
Date: May 14, 2006 Source: C-N.com — Courier News Online
URL: http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060514/NEWS/605140353
