Supreme Court Declines to Hear Readington Township's Appeal

The New Jersey Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal by Readington Township regarding the Solberg Airport eminent domain case.

"N.J. Supreme Court declines to hear Readington's appeal for Solberg Airport"

By: Veronica Slaght, appeard on nj.com/The Star-Ledger, January 26, 2010

Readington Residents Outraged at Township Committee

Article from the Hunterdon County Democrat discusses Readington residents' anger over the eminent domain action against Solberg Airport.

"Readington Residents Beg Township: Settle Airport Issue with Solbergs"

By: Curtis Leeds, appeared on nj.com / Hunterdon County Democrat, September 9, 2009

Appellate Court Sides with Solberg in Ruling

A decision reached by the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division on Wednesday, August 19, 2009 ordered the Solberg Airport eminent domain case remanded for a trial. In addition, the court affirmed Solberg's claims that property tax was not owed on the property taken by Readington Township.

"Appeals court halts decision that awarded Readington airport land, rights"
By: Brandon Lausch, appeared on mycentraljersey.com/Courier News, August 19, 2009

"Appeals court rules Readington cannot use eminent domain to seize Solberg Airport land"
By: Jennifer Golson, appeared on nj.com/The Star-Ledger, August 19, 2009

Read the judges' full opinion here (link to pdf)

Appeal Oral Arguments Have Been Heard

On Monday, April 27, 2009, the oral arguments in the case were heard. The fate of the airport is now in the hands of the courts. Mike Frassinelli of the Star Ledger wrote an excellent article about the airport's saga that can be found at the link below.

Court rules on use of eminent domain to buy space around Solberg Airport
By: Mike Frassinelli / The Star Ledger / Sunday, May 10, 2009

Oral Arguments Scheduled

The time has come for the appeal to be heard by the appellate court. Oral arguments have been scheduled for Monday, April 27, 2009 at 10:00 am at the Middlesex County Courthouse in New Brunswick, Room 103.

How Did We Get Here?

A quick summary of the case so far:

- 1941, Thor Solberg is given permission to operate a commercial airport in Readington, NJ.

- 1960's, Community relations heat up when Solberg Airport is named as a possible forth major NY area airport...eventually falls through.

- 1983, Airport Safety and Zoning Act is passed and Readington refuses over the next 25 years to adopt it.

- 1989, Solberg Airport is set to be home to the aircraft from Linden Airport when Linden Airport is planning to close. Readington Township officials seek legal advise on how to stop this from occurring.

- Around 1990, The owners of Solberg Airport seek to develop a Master Plan for future improvements, the threat of condemnation is first brought to light.

- 1999, The Solberg Airport Master Plan is given conditional approval. The township committee now kicks into high gear.

- October 2001, Readington Township enacts an ordinance to condemn Solberg Airport using eminent domain.

- April 2002, Solberg Airport owners agree to sell the airport to the NJDOT.

- July 2005, 2 1/2 years after the airport was sold to New Jersey, the negotiations broke down. Readington Township, now fearing airport expansion once again, passes a bond ordinance for the amount of money they plan to use to condemn Solberg Airport once again.

- March 2006, After negotiations between Readington and the owners of Solberg Airport fall through, a referendum on the bond ordinance passes.

- June 2006, Readington passes an ordinance to acquire Solberg Airport with no further negotiations.

- September 2006, the eminent domain lawsuit is filed to acquire Solberg Airport.

- November 2006, the case is heard and the judge orders a discovery phase.

- January 2008, the judge in the case grants a "summary judgement" to Readington Township.

As we stand now, an appeal has been filed and the next step will be to schedule oral arguments for the appeal. Stay tuned...