1997 Solberg Master Plan History

The 1997 Master Plan was the first since Solberg Airport’s founding.

  • Prior to 1991 the main runway (04-22) was paved to a length of 1,800 ft x 50 ft wide.
  • In 1991 the main runway was extended by 66% and paved to 3,000 ft x 50 ft wide (believe funded by FAA grant). In addition to the paved 3,000 ft a turf displaced threshold of 735 ft was added at the southern end (runway 04). The crosswind runway (13-31) was turf and generally unchanged at 3,700 ft length. 
A key measure of an airport’s size is the Airport Reference Code (ARC) which, prior to the 1997 Plan, was “B-I (Small Only)”. This code defines a facility suitable for aircraft with an approach speed of less than 129 knots (148 mph) and a wingspan less than 49 ft. The designation (Small Only) sets a maximum weight limit of 12,500 lbs. The ARC target of the 1997 Master Plan is “B-II”, a seemingly benign increase in wingspan to under 79 ft, BUT removing the “(Small Only)” designation opens the facility to an entirely new group of aircraft with weights in excess of 12,500 lbs.
 
The 1997 Master Plan  ultimately described a main runway (03-21), relocated to the west from the current location and paved to 4,890 ft x 100 ft wide. This length was a compromise from a length of 5,600 ft, originally specified.
 
The relocation was necessitated by two factors. First, to accommodate landing larger more sophisticated jet aircraft under adverse weather conditions a Precision Instrument Approach was required for runway 03. This advanced feature requires a large safety zone extending well beyond the threshold of the runway and property which Solberg controlls.
 
Had the runway not been relocate the required size of the safety zone caused it to extend over Hillcrest Park. The FAA does not permit places of public assembly, such as parks or ball fields to be in the safety zone. The federal or state authorities would have had to take, by eminent domain, Hillcrest Park for the benefit of the airport. Second, the distance between the main runway (04-22) and the parallel taxi-way did not meet FAA minimum requirements for the larger jet aircraft, with wingspans up to 79 ft, intended to use the airport facility. Ultimately, relocating the runway addressed both of these issues but would shift the departing and arriving traffic to different paths.
 
In addition to the significant expansion of the main runway the existing turf crosswind runway (13-31) was targeted for a significant upgrade including paving to 3,700 ft x 75 ft wide. This alone would have eclipsed the size of the airport even as it exists today!
 
The New Jersey DOT, in it’s 2006 State Airport System Plan, classified Solberg-Hunterdon Airport as a Priority General Airport and stated that Solberg along with several other airports “…should be developed to the maximum extent feasible based on local development, financial, environmental, ownership and community considerations.” If the State had prevailed, Solberg would have been well along the path to becomming an Advanced Service Airport, with an ARC of C-II and a 5,000 ft minimum length runway as suggested in the State System Plan. Certainly the “community” considerations activity of the late 1970’s to 1990’s played a significant role in preventing the unwanted development. The 2022 update to the State Airport System Plan (pages 6 and 7) continues to list Solberg as a Priority General Airport and continues to advocate that airports in this category “be developed to the fullest extent possible.”
 
Some of the aircraft intended to operate at an airport of this size were described in a consultant’s 2006 report commissioned by Readington Township. None of these aircraft are current regular users of the Solberg Airport, although there may be occasional sightings of the smaller aircraft since the 2022 extension of the main runway.
Use 3,700 ft runway
Use 4,800 ft runway
Use 5,600 ft runway

While the Solbergs and Readington Township disputed the 1997 plan’s extensive airport development for over 20 years little was done as far as construction of either runways or other facilities. This delay ultimately resulted in the residents thwarting of the extensive development plan presented in 1997. 

In 2021 plans for paving the existing 735 ft displaced threshold at the south end of the main runway (04-22) were brought before the Township. Because the necessary aviation authorizations were already in place work was able to begin in 2021 and the new 3,735 ft x 50 ft wide main runway opened in 2022.

While a reader of this site might expect to see documentation of court cases and Court Opinions, those actions are actuall irrelevant to the intended purpose of this site which is to create public awareness of the elements and procedures associated with creating/updating and airport’s Master Plan and Airport Layout Plan (ALP). Knowing the step-by-step progression of “airport creep”, as developed by Airport Sponsors in association with a friendly NJ-DOT, is far more useful than knowing the decisions that were made in a court room well after a frequently irreversable event occurred. With knowledge of events to come a defensive strategy can be formulated which can prove effective.