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...