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| Wantage officials study whether to buy airport |
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By CHRISTINA TATU
ctatu@njherald.com
WANTAGE — Wantage township will embark on a six- to nine-month study to determine the feasibility of purchasing the Sussex Airport.
Earlier this month, the township was awarded $150,000 from the state’s Department of Transportation to cover the cost of the study.
Once the study is completed, township officials will decide whether it is in their best interest to purchase the property. It will not go before voters, said Township Administrator Jim Doherty.
“The township form of government does not provide the option of a referendum, so that is a moot point,” Doherty said.
The best the township officials could do is a non-binding referendum poll to ask voters what they want to do, he said.
“A non-binding referendum poll is something that is used when the benefits versus the drawbacks of an issue are not clearly known or understood, but once the study is done, it should be crystal clear whether it would be an important business decision to purchase the airport,” Doherty said.
The fear of the 100-acre airport being sold to developers is initially what piqued the township’s interest in conducting a feasibility study, Doherty said. With Wantage’s five-acre zoning, the 100-acre site potentially could become a 20-home development. During a November committee meeting, township officials announced their intention to conduct the study.
Sussex Airport, located off county Route 639, has been on the market for four years, but owner Paul Styger, 86, said he has not received many offers. A township report last month revealed that because Styger received grants from the Federal Aviation Administration, the property must remain an airport for at least 20 years since receiving the last grant. Styger received the most recent grant from the FAA in 2006 to pave the airport’s taxiway.
Styger has owned the private airport since the 1950s. Since 1945, the airport has offered flight and parachuting lessons, as well as access for private aircraft.
Even with the possibility of development removed from the near future, township officials believe the airport could be a benefit to Wantage, generating revenue from private lessons, possibly attracting new business to the area and being eligible for up to $150,000 a year, every year, in FAA grants for any airport related projects. ?
Created: 2/14/2009 | Updated: 2/15/2009
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