Almost 28 years ago, in 1976, the private owners of Solberg-Hunterdon Airport called a Public Involvement Meeting to reveal their plans to expand the airport in a way that would have forever changed the rural character of Readington Township New Jersey. A 20+year battle ensued! The residents prevailed in preventing a massive expansion/relocation of the main runway to 4,890 feet x 100 feet wide; sufficient for many business class jet aircraft of the era. Unfortunately, the Township failed in it’s effort to permanently obtain control that would have prevented this current expansion effort. The expectation is that this December 2023 meeting will propose development and expansion at least as extensive as what became the 1997 Solberg-Hunterdon Airport Master Plan.
Wednesday, December 6, 2023
7:00 to 9:00 PM
Readington Middle School
This may well be the most important “public information” meeting AND YOUR ONLY CHANCE TO COMMENT on the Public Hearing Record BEFORE the announcement of the Updated Solberg-Hunterdon Airport Master Plan and associated Airport Layout Plan (ALP)! A significant community turn-out is essential to communicating a desire to preserve the rural character of Readington Township. An expansion that would attract some of the largest business jet aircraft in use today would certainly destroy the community residents now have.
The Courier News, in February 1996, described attendance at that meeting as “easily exceeding the meeting room’s 367 person capacity”. This significant community outcry forced a second, weather delayed, Public Meeting at Readington Middle School on Wednesday, April 17, 1996, reportedly attended by at least 500 residents, mostly opposing the airport’s expansion plan.
One educated guess regarding the yet to be publicized airport plan expects it would create an airport on par with Morristown (MMU) where a Boeing C-32A (“Air Force 1” when the President is on board) routinely operated. Business aircraft approaching that size would certainly change the character of the residential community forever.
Attendee Information...
If the format of this meeting follows FAA recommendations, it will NOT be a traditional “lecture” where a speaker will deliver information to an audience from a podium and attendees can voice concerns and issues as in a public hearing. Instead, it is likely to be one or more “information stations” where conceptual planning documents will be available to view and agents will take comments and attendee questions in a quiet, non public forum. It is likely that the Airport Sponsor’s preferred expansion plan will be mixed among other, less offensive, alternatives. Make no mistake, there are preferred alternatives among all the data. It will be up to attendees to “PULL” information from the Airport Sponsor’s agents. Two FAA documents which may be worth reviewing to better understand this meeting:
- AC 150/5050-4A – Community Involvement in Airport Planning
- AC 150/5070-6B – Airport Master Plans (Chapter 4 – Public Involvement Program)
The FAA states in the Public Involvement section of AC 150/5070-6B Airport Master Plans, “Traditional public hearings, where stakeholders are given the opportunity to make public statements about the study, are not a good forum…”
A key point to remember is that an Airport Master Plan is prepared from the perspective of an Airport Sponsor that is solely focused on and seeking to address aviation needs, real or percieved. It is up to members of the community hosting the airport facilities to temper or quash, what are likely to be overly aggressive development and expansion, benefiting the aviation community at the expense of the host community.
Note: Airport Sponsors are the owner, manager, or other person or entity designated to represent the interests of the airport