|
Miller Airpark May Get Second Runway
Pinelands Commission Meeting On Issue Cancelled; Would Be First Expansion In 20 Years
By Bill McLaughlin
A Pinelands Commission meeting on the planned second runway at Robert J. Miller Airpark on Route 530 in Berkeley has been cancelled. A spokeswoman for the commission gave no reason for canceling the meeting that had been set for 6 p.m. January 2. The hearing has not been rescheduled.
The issue at hand is the first new runway to be built in New Jersey in more than two decades. It is expected to face opposition from residents near the airport and also from conservationists. The crosswind runway would point toward the Crestwood Village senior developments.
The Pinelands Commission, first impaneled three decades ago, has long fought any further inroads by developers into the biosphere reserve. Since 1983, when the Pinelands was first deemed a major ecosystem by the federal government, a comprehensive management plan has been implemented by the commission with input from local, state and federal government agencies.
As for the chances the commission will give its approval, Berkeley administrator Leonard Roeber smiled when the subject was brought up at the December 27 council meeting.
Roeber said a second runway "would make the airport safer" but he noted a series of unsuccessful applications go back 30 years or more.
Critics complain that noise in the summertime, when the airport is at its busiest, would affect the quality of residents' lives. Aviation supporters have said the increase in traffic would be negligible and that traffic would avoid populated areas.
As long as 40 years ago, when planners predicted an unending urban sprawl from New York to Washington, D.C., a fourth airport for the area was considered a sure thing. Many politicians thought McGuire Air Force Base would be decommissioned after World War II and become the fourth civilian airport.
Stewart Air Force Base in upstate New York recently was selected as that fourth airport. For Ocean County travelers eager to forgo the chaos of Newark Liberty or Philadelphia, Atlantic City has become a welcome alternative as a regional air hub.
At a recent Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders meeting, Freeholder Joseph Vicari said the second runway and a number of other improvements would make the airport safer and more viable economically. Vicari noted the airport has received $7 million in state and federal grants for safety projects.
The airport has served mainly recreation and business aircraft with its existing 6,000- foot runway, which recently was widened for safety reasons.
The 420-acre site has also been home to a number of plane exhibitions, including vintage civilian and military aircraft.
Under an existing lease agreement, Ocean Aire, Inc. has provided full service support from maintenance and hangar storage to fueling and repairs. The company has also supplied charter flights and instruction to budding pilots in the decade it has run the airport.
The Ocean County Planning Department has oversight of the 10,000-square-foot terminal.
The Pinelands Commission is comprised of 15 members. Seven are appointed by the governor, seven to represent the seven Pinelands counties - one for each county, and one representing the U.S. Secretary of the Interior.
Betty Wilson, a former deputy assistant DEP commissioner, chairs the commission.
| 
