Resolving challenges of copter relocation
Judge is off and running, with dismissal of first lawsuit

4/2/06

Small regional airfields like Somerset Airport in Bedminster Township are not required to have an air traffic controller.

But it's not aircraft, it's litigation surrounding the facility that needs oversight -- someone to decide what goes on now and in the future -- at the airport sitting on the western edge of Somerset County.

That someone is Superior Court Judge Robert Reed, who last week indicated he's determined to resolve what he called "convoluted" legal challenges over relocation of a State Police helicopter unit from University Hospital in Newark to the township.

Reed began his ambitious goal Friday afternoon at Somerset County's Historic Courthouse in Somerville, where a dozen lawyers representing more than a dozen litigants in four lawsuits converged to continue their battle.

His first order of business was to dismiss one lawsuit -- filed by the Bedminster, Bridgewater, Branchburg Concerned Citizens Coalition, and joined by Bridgewater Township -- that challenged the Bedminster board of adjustment's ruling that helicopters are a permitted use at the airport.

Reed also set a May 17 hearing date for what will likely be a critical ruling on another lawsuit filed by the BBBCCC, which argues state law does not permit the helicopter unit to be based at a nonmedical facility.

But the most controversial move he made may have been a nonruling over the group's third lawsuit, which seeks to reverse the Bedminster Board of Health's approval of an expanded septic system at the airport, and to halt excavation that began last week for that system.

After a contentious debate late in the afternoon about the septic work, Reed decided to visit the airport this week to examine the construction site before ruling on the lawsuit Tuesday. The BBBCCC was joined in that suit Friday by airport neighbor and former presidential candidate Steve Forbes. Both groups argue the new septic system is "part and parcel" to approval of airport plans to convert hangar space into permanent quarters for the State Police unit's 24-hour, seven-day-a-week operation.

Forbes' attorney, Richard Sasso, who delivered an 85-page "order to show cause" to Reed's office Friday morning, argued airport owner Dan Walker's building of the septic system without a site plan review was an attempt to circumvent the township planning board's legal authority.

"The attorneys are attempting to run an end-around the planning board and avoid the planning issues," Sasso said.

The planning board has postponed hearings on the airport's expansion plans pending the outcome of litigation. Meanwhile, the airport owner is moving forward with the septic work that has already been approved, said Walker's attorney, William G. Mennen IV.

The helicopter unit has operated from Somerset Airport for 13 months. Facing eviction last month when a special use permit for its temporary trailer expired, the State Police packed up and moved its crew into the airport's 60-year-old terminal, where it now shares space with Walker's business.

Bedminster township zoning officer Geoff Pryce and township engineer Paul W. Ferriero immediately sent a letter to Walker and Mennen, telling them the helicopter unit had to leave because local zoning does not allow for the State Police program. Pryce and Ferriero reminded Walker and Mennen that the airport property sits in a residential zone, adding that the language of the zoning law clearly spells out the permitted uses for the zone. Additionally, the more than 50-year-old septic system at the airport's terminal does not have the capacity to handle the extra usage, they said.

Opponents of the program's relocation insist the township's zoning laws do not allow the 24-hour operation, and further argue the scope of the program and uses for the aircraft have been intentionally downplayed. Soon after the State Police began flying from Somerset Airport, state officials confirmed their helicopters would be used not only for emergency medical missions, but also for law enforcement missions, including homeland security.

Following the township's eviction notice, Walker then sued the township, asking the courts to issue a temporary restraining order to delay immediate action. Judge Reed responded by blocking the township's eviction proceedings until the legal issues are sorted out.

Reed indicated he may rule Tuesday whether to uphold or reverse Bedminster's interpretation of the zoning ordinance. If he upholds the interpretation, the township could forcibly evict the helicopter crew. Or, he could agree with township attorney Santina Bombacci, who argued Friday the cases should be sent back to the township's zoning board.

Construction crews hurriedly began installing the septic system Wednesday, and had already razed half an acre of trees and dug up tons of dirt by Friday morning.

At the end of the 3 1/2-hour court session, as Judge Reed wavered on an injunction to halt the septic system work, Sasso and Walker's attorney, Daniel Bernstein, traded heated remarks over the issue.

"They are attempting to usurp the power of the planning board -- the septic system has never even been looked at by a site plan review," Sasso told the judge.

At first, Reed said Walker could continue work on the septic, but only within the existing footprint. Then he seemed to change his mind after Sasso and Harwick argued the continued excavation may have a permanently detrimental effect on the environment and the airport's neighbors.

In the end, Reed told Walker to continue working "at his own peril."

The hearings will continue at 3:15 p.m. Tuesday at the historic courthouse in Somerville.

Peter N. Spencer
Star-Ledger