Airport owners seeking
rezone for adult homes
MARLBORO — The owners of the Marlboro Airport have proposed a plan to cease operations and develop the land into a senior residential community.
Marlboro Holdings, LLC, cited recent crashes at the airport, the site’s proximity to the new Marlboro Early Learning Cen-ter and security issues since Sept. 11 as reasons to shut down.
Proposed to take the place of the airport is a community of 307 single-family homes or 423 townhouses. The 53-acre airport is in the Morganville section of Marlboro on Route 79 near Harbor Road. Currently zoned R-80 (residential development permitted on 2-acre lots), the owners are seeking a possible rezoning into lots of one-eighth of an acre. Such zoning changes are subject to a vote by the Township Council.
In a January letter to Planning Board Chairman Mario Giudice, David Berman, representing Marlboro Holdings, LLC, said:
"Given the recent fatal crash this summer and past crashes at the airport, we have concerns about the new elementary school being built so close to the Airport Fly Hazard Zone. … There has also been a security issue for the township with the police department constantly monitoring the airport since Sept. 11, 2001. Therefore, at this time we feel that it would be right and prudent to phase out operations at the airport and close it."
Mayor Matthew Scannapieco said the plan makes sense from economic and safety standpoints. The proposal also addresses what he believes is one of the town’s shortfalls, a lack of senior housing. Scannapieco said that from an economic standpoint, the plan could produce a good ratable. Senior housing introduces more taxpayers without bringing more children into a school system that is already facing enrollment increases every year.
Since Sept. 11, fears of terror attacks have led to more letters of concern, complaints of low flying planes and rising costs from extra police patrols, Scannapieco said. Although there have been no problems, closing the airport can only make the school safer, he said.
In comments to Greater Media News-papers, however, Marlboro Superintendent of Schools Dr. David C. Abbott questioned the legitimacy of the cited concerns about dangers to the early learning center, which recently opened at the corner of Harbor and Tennent roads.
"We did a thorough check with the FAA and there were absolutely no indications whatsoever that the school was in any point of danger," Abbott said. "Why would that school be any different if it was sitting farther up Tennent Road?"
A check of National Transportation Safety Board aviation records available on the Internet revealed there have been sporadic crashes at the Marlboro Airport in recent years. The majority were related to airplanes landing at the facility and resulted in minor injuries or no injuries. However, there have been three fatal accidents in the last 10 years.
Two passengers were killed and a pilot was injured in 1993 after a vintage biplane on a sightseeing trip impacted near the airport. The apparent cause of the crash was a loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.
Four people were killed in October 1997 after an accident was believed to have been caused by inadequate plane maintenance. A Piper PA-28R-180 crashed into trees near the airport after its landing gear did not retract after takeoff.
A pilot and a passenger were killed in an August 2001 accident with a Cessna 172SP. Witnesses said the plane touched down well beyond the landing approach point, then climbed and veered left to avoid utility wires. The airplane then inverted and struck the ground below the wires.
Marlboro Holdings, LLC, acquired the airport in February 2000.
The airport offers flight school instruction, sightseeing tours and hangar rentals. According to its Internet Web site, the airport owns three Cessna 172s, three Cessna 150s and one Piper Arrow.