Medevac chopper gets order to leave Airport lawyer sees case going to court

2/17/06

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

If hindsight is 20/20, then Bedminster officials say they now have perfect vision: The State Police helicopter unit cannot maintain a base at Somerset Airport.
That message was delivered yesterday to airport owner Dan Walker in a detailed letter signed by the township's engineer and zoning officer, citing local zoning that doesn't allow for operation of a helicopter unit.

Township engineer Paul W. Ferriero and zoning officer Geoffrey Pryce emphasize that the 60-year-old airport property sits in a residential zone that requires a 10-acre minimum lot size for new home construction. The language of the zoning law spells out permitted uses, including trailers -- like the one that housed the medevac crew.

However, the crew moved from the trailer to the airport terminal yesterday, and vacated a permitted temporary structure. Walker now requires zoning board permission to have the crew remain on the premises as a 24-hour operation.

The township has not yet determined how much time Walker has to rectify the matter, but he could have as long as a month to comply with the zoning law, Pryce said after visiting the airport yesterday. Noncompliance could land Walker in court facing possible fines.

Walker's lawyer, William G. Mennen IV, yesterday argued the township's conclusions offered a "flawed opinion" and the existing zoning for the airport site is filled with "a lot of black holes."

"Regrettably, this is going to end up before a judge," said Mennen. "We had hoped to resolve this with the municipality. But there are issues here that need to be sorted out by a judge."

A special use permit that expired yesterday had allowed the helicopter crew to work at the airport inside the trailer after its move from University Hospital in Newark a little more than a year ago.

The zoning violation was not identified earlier when Walker secured the permit. Knowing now a helicopter operation could not exist under the current zoning, Deputy Mayor Don Cross said the township committee would not have granted permission.

"The special-use permit was the window, and the township should never have issued it," Cross said.

A spokeswoman for the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, which provides medical services for Northstar, was firm about the helicopter operations remaining at the Bedminster airport to provide improved emergency medical services to the northern half of the state.

"We're committed to provide this service, and we're grateful to the many who support us," said Anna Farneski.

The crew's move to the terminal yesterday went forward, although Walker had received the letter about the zoning dispute.

"They're bagging them up," Walker said, looking on as two halves of the trailer were wrapped in plastic and readied for removal from the airport. He declined to comment on the township's conclusions.

The zoning matter is likely to postpone a scheduled planning board hearing tomorrow night on Walker's plan to convert hangar space into permanent quarters for Northstar, said Mennen.

The lawyer said he would file an "order to show cause" in state Superior Court this week to have the township explain why the zoning determination was "correct."

Airport neighbors, who have resisted the State Police helicopter unit, were encouraged by the township's action yesterday.

"I'm not going to get into the middle of this issue," said Alan Harwick, head of a tri-town residents group that has filed four lawsuits to stop the helicopter operation. "I trust the township officials are confident that the position they put in this letter is a defensible one."

Cross said he wished the zoning violation had been caught sooner to spare the township more than a year of contentiousness among Northstar supporters and objectors, as well as political squabbling that also had brought him into the cross hairs of critics.

"There's been an awful lot of angst that could have been avoided had the township never issued a special-use permit," he said. "We would have said up front, 'Sorry, that's not a permitted use under the residential zoning. You have to find somewhere else.'"

Ralph R. Ortega may reached at rortega@starledger.com or (908) 429-9925.

BY RALPH R. ORTEGA
Star-Ledger Staff