RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMISSION At the time of the establishment of this Commission, New Jersey had lost on average one general aviation airport each year since 1952. Airport closings in this State constitute a significant trend which has already caused New Jersey to lose more than 50 percent of its general aviation airports. The presence and closure of these facilities have a significant effect on the host communities, and will ultimately affect the economy of the State. As a result of the testimony taken from the wide range of interests during the public hearings held by this Commission, the Commission has determined the following recommended goals for the Administration and the Legislature: (1) not only to save, but to expand the existing airports to adequately serve the needs of their communities and the economy of this State; and (2) develop plans to have at least one airport in every county of this State capable of serving the entire corporate aviation fleet on a 95 degree day. To the extent possible, these airports should be located near major highways and should be designed as intermodal transportation terminals serving mass transit, air transportation and car pooling operations. The goal of utmost urgency is to ensure that the State does not permit the loss of any of its remaining public use airports. These facilities are too valuable for the State to lose, and prohibitively expensive to reestablish. As previously discussed, the airports in peril are the privately owned public use facilities that are sold as a result of the owners not realizing an adequate return on their real estate capital, the owners' desire to liquidate their real estate assets, the second or third generations' decision to end the airport tradition, and/or the owners' frustration and disillusionment with not being able to improve their facilities in accordance with good business practices due to local opposition. As examined above, in spite of the tremendous economic impact of general aviation airports, the owners of these facilities do not usually see much of that on their bottom line: the transportation value of the airport is largely a public good and the private owners cannot make an adequate return simply on fuel sales, aircraft parking and any other services which they may offer. To keep private ownership attractive, the profits-or owners' return on capital-must be increased through a reduction of real estate taxes and the funding of upgrades through grants or low interest loans. The Commission's objective in preparing this report is to propose a set of recommendations that are both detailed and realistic. The Commission believes that the following recommendations will protect New Jersey's remaining airports and assist them to meet the needs of the State's communities, while contributing to the State's overall economic development. REVISIONS OF NEW JERSEY'S PROPERTY TAX LAWS The Commission recommends a review of the State's tax treatment of general aviation facilities to alleviate the inequitable tax burden upon the private owners of public use airports. Currently, publicly owned airports are exempt from real property taxation. The Commission recommends that this exemption enjoyed by many publicly owned facilities be applied to all general aviation airports' land and improvements, which do not directly generate income for the owner of the airport. The exempted areas would include, without limitation, all runway, taxiway, ramp, aircraft parking, runway clear zones as provided in the New Jersey Airport Safety Zoning Act, runway clear areas and protection zones required for precision and non-precision instrument approaches as required by the Federal Aviation Regulations and their environs, as well as all land reserved for future airport improvements, all paved driveways and automobile areas available for public use and all other improvements dedicated to aviation uses. The Commission encourages this exemption since a privately owned airport is contributing to the State transportation infrastructure equally to that of any publicly owned airport, railroad or roadway. The private airport owners are providing a significant public good, one that the public sector would otherwise have to provide at great cost. These taxes essentially penalize private airport owners for, and mitigate against their ability to, continuously providing this public service. Our sister states have set the precedent for this. Four of those states do not require privately owned public use airports to pay property tax; one state has legislation pending for exemption; one state uses a reduced assessment; and one state has a bill pending for a reduced assessment. The seven states with some form of property tax relief are Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and Pennsylvania. These states have population densities ranging from 74 to 769 people per square mile; New Jersey has 1,035 people per square mile.316 Land values and, thus, tax assessments in New Jersey are generally presumed to be greater. New Jersey, with the highest population density and the second highest percentage of privately owned airports, is the state which most needs such a program. PROGRAMS ENABLING AIRPORT OWNERS TO SELL DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS The Commission recommends that the State establish a program enabling private airport owners to sell and transfer their development rights either to other private parties or to the State, and in the latter event, the State must stand ready to purchase these development rights when they are offered. The largest asset for most airports in New Jersey is the real estate which they use. Airports typically require significant acreage in order to accommodate runways, taxiways, perpendicular crosswind runways, buffer areas, ramp and parking areas, hangars and maintenance structures, terminals and office buildings. Since this land is generally worth far more as a residential or industrial development than an airport (evidenced by the fact that many airports have become housing developments and that there have been no new airports established in over 20 years), there needs to be a mechanism to allow airport owners to liquidate their capital investment, in whole or in part, without closing the airport. The Commission's recommended solution, to establish a program for the sale of development rights, is well proven as applied in the agricultural sector. The Commission encourages the State to establish a program to purchase the development rights of any privately owned public use airport with a covenant in the deed, to run with the land, stating that the airport would remain an airport in perpetuity. In order to guarantee that not one more airport is lost, this program should have a mandatory mechanism whereby airport land sold for a non-airport purpose would escheat to the State subject to the Constitutional requirements for just compensation. The State could then auction the airport, less its development rights, for the account of the former owner. In addition, a provision should be included to provide that no municipality shall be permitted to condemn an airport except to continue it as an airport and, in such event, it must commit to improve the airport to the model airport specifications established by the NJDOT in its New Jersey Transportation Plan. This mechanism for reducing the amount of private capital invested in an airport would greatly improve an owner's return on the remaining capital. This simple program would enable airport owners to pursue alternative investments with a substantial amount of their capital without having to close the airport. Since not all of airport owners would be expected to exercise this "put" right either immediately or at once (even development rights will appreciate) the State can undertake the purchase of them gradually. In the end New Jersey achieves the establishment of a stable general aviation airport system at a fraction of the cost. EXPAND CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT FUNDING As a result of the testimony and review of the Sister State Survey, the Commission encourages New Jersey to undertake aggressive expansion of capital improvement funding for airports. Specifically, the most important projects are: runway extensions, land acquisition and the installation of lighting and Automated Weather Observation Systems (AWOS). Runway extensions are the most important and effective improvement that can be made to increase safety in airport operations. It is also the most important improvement that can be made to establish the economic viability of privately owned public airports. It is also the most beneficial improvement that can be made to contain airport noise on the airport. The State can achieve all three of these with just one program. In some cases, to achieve runway extensions, the State will have to exercise its power of eminent domain and apply capital funding to compensate persons whose property is acquired. Similarly, capital funding will be required to purchase the development rights of private airport owners opting to sell them. Finally capital funding will need to be applied to the purchase of land necessary for noise control. Some of this land can have the additional benefit of providing an area where commercial lots can be located which will help establish the economic stability of the privately owned airport and return of capital from the publicly owned one. AWOS continuously broadcasts, on a discrete radio frequency, the current weather of the airport at which it is located. These systems are FAA certified substitutes for observations taken by licensed human observers. AWOS can operate 24 hours a day, and are a practical method of providing weather information at airports without a control tower or not staffed by weather observers. A local weather observation greatly improves the safety of instrument flight operations, and is in fact required by the FAA for in strument operations by a charter operator. For businesses that travel by charter aircraft, AWOS would enable them to use more airports within New Jersey's general aviation system. New Jersey's capital spending improved markedly in 1994 compared to 1993. In 1993, New Jersey, out of the 44 respondents, ranked 34 in total capital investment, 38 in per capita capital investment, and 29 in capital investment per airport. In 1994, those ranks improved to 20, 22, and 11 respectively. Since New Jersey has the greatest number of residents per airport,317 the State's capital investment should reflect that. New Jersey should strive to have the highest capital investment per airport of any state, and at a bare minimum, it should achieve at least the average level of those other states. In 1994, simply meeting the average would have required more than a four-fold increase. The state average in 1994 was $395,903; New Jersey was $93,640.318 ESTABLISHMENT OF AIRPORT ZONES The Commission recommends the creation of an "airport zone" through the amendment of the Municipal Land Use Law. Typical zoning classifications presently include residential, commercial, school and hospital zones. The creation of an airport zone will not only confirm that airports and other intermodal transportation facilities are conforming uses but, more importantly, provide the opportunity for the NJDOT to regulate and approve development within these zones, as recommended below. The Commission recommends that the NJDOT adopt as New Jersey's model airport the model described for the intermodal facility set forth above. This model incorporates all appropriate standards for safety, for noise containment and for economic viability of the airport. An airport zone would be defined to include, at the minimum, all land within the airport boundary and its clear areas and runway protection zones; and, at the maximum, as the area within the 65 Ldn noise contour as determined by the NJDOT for its model airport. Identification of conforming uses within an airport zone by applying the findings of the FAA and EPA based on their extensive research over the past 25 years will in time resolve differences between the State's public interest in preserving its general aviation airport system and its interest in addressing the complaints of the airport's residential neighbors to minimize airport noise impact. An airport zone should include and encourage the presence of businesses serving the interface of transportation modes. Such business activities as storage and maintenance hangars, passenger and air freight terminals, flight schools, aircraft rental, car rental, hotels, restaurants, train stations, mass transit and car pooling parking lots, police, emergency and highway maintenance services will all be deemed primary conforming uses of the airport zone. A second conforming use will include light industry (of fices) and other business not directly related to inter-modal transportation. A third level of conforming use within an airport zone will include graveyards, farms, golf courses, open space, green acres and wetlands. Establishing the airport zone by statute will eliminate the indecision and concomitant economic waste currently suffered by a general aviation facility and its municipality when considering a proposal to improve the airport. Certain activities, including building and improvement of runways, taxiways, ramp areas, fuel storage areas, terminals, maintenance and storage hangars would be known as conforming uses within it. In addition, the ease of processing their applications will encourage the presence of supportive industry within the airport zone which will sustain and enhance the business of the general aviation facility. ESTABLISH THE NJDOT AS THE EXCLUSIVE AGENCY TO DETERMINE AIRPORT IMPROVEMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES The Commission recommends that all laws regulating land, land use and environmental protection currently in force be amended to provide that the New Jersey Department of Transportation shall be empowered to administer these regulations respecting any land on an airport or within an "Airport Zone," as described above, and that considerations of safety in air transportation supersede considerations of environmental protection where the NJDOT determines the two are in conflict. This Commission received an overwhelming amount of testimony from airport owners on the difficulties they experience within the current conflicting regulatory environment in New Jersey. These conflicts apparently give rise to "turf wars" between the agencies involved and an inordinate amount of time passes before the matter is resolved. Considering that human life is at stake, these internecine jealousies are baffling. While having the utmost concern for New Jersey's environment, the Commission is certain that the New Jersey Legislature and the Governor do not want to sacrifice human life for the sake of plant life. The system needs to be streamlined. One agency must have paramount authority. Reason dictates that agency should be the one with the paramount responsibility - human life. Providing the NJDOT with sole regulatory authority over general aviation facilities and airport zones will eliminate the current confusion and peril inherent in this part of the regulatory process. The Commission recommends that the New Jersey Aviation Act (N.J.S.A. 6:1-1 et seq.) be amended to provide that NJDOT shall have the exclusive authority to hear applications for proposed improvements to a New Jersey airport or for proposed improvements within an airport zone. It shall provide a single forum where all interested parties will have equal standing, including the publicly or privately owned public use airport owner, the airport authority, the host municipality and the neighboring municipality. The Commission heard, and has summarized above, overwhelming testimony from airport owners, especially private airport owners, of the patent injustices, interminable delays and inexcusable economic waste visited upon them when making application to the host municipality for approval of an ordinary and reasonable airport improvement. In virtually every instance the proposed improvement to the airport would also be considered an improvement to the State's air transportation system. In numerous instances the improvement was never made. The State suffered many losses. In addition, the Commission reviewed evidence from various reliable witnesses, including a State Senator, a representative of the League of Municipalities and the Commission's survey (See Appendix E) sent to all neighboring municipalities. All indicated that a neighboring municipality has a legitimate interest in the proposal of a neighboring airport improvement but it does not have equal standing with the host municipality which currently determines the application. This is true even though the population center of the neighboring municipality may be closer to the airport than that of the host municipality. The survey respondents overwhelmingly agreed that applications for the development of the airport should be made to the NJDOT, where the host and the neighboring municipalities would be given equal consideration when expressing their views and where the zoning ordinances of each would be given equal weight. Finally, the Commission was convinced by evidence which indicated that even a well intentioned host municipality is not expert in matters of aviation and does not understand the needs of the State's air transportation system and cannot be expected to make judgements consonant with such understanding. NJDOT has such expertise and understanding. The Commission recommends this as an improvement to the current procedure of NJDOT review upon appeal after the denial of the application. This current process has proven to be one with which only the host municipality is satisfied. After it makes its decision the matter is usually appealed into the court system by the applicant or the neighboring municipality where years pass before it is resolved. Worse, NJDOT may or may not be a party to the court proceeding and the State's overriding transportation interests may never be considered. Even if they are considered by the court, they are only considered as arguments in an appeal of a municipal action and not as an appeal of an action taken by a State agency. The current procedure has not been effective in the past and involves the waste of much time and economic resources. The recommended procedure will bring all parties before NJDOT in the first instance, and will help to resolve all matters in one proceeding. PROGRAMS ENCOURAGING POSITIVE MUNICIPAL RELATIONS While the State recognizes the economic importance of general aviation airports in the State, it must address the continuing difficulties airport owners and host municipalities' face regarding the operations of these facilities. The relationship between New Jersey's airports and their host and neighboring communities touches all aspects of a facility's operations. These conflicts often involve heated emotions, unrelated political agendas, concerns about safety, noise, quality of life and airport expansion, while battling with the airport owners' rights to operate their businesses and the State's need for an aviation infrastructure. As previously discussed, there are many examples of excellent airport-municipal relations. Many airports are responsive to the concerns of their community and adjust their operations as much as they can to meet those concerns. Many municipalities value their airports as a means to attract business, preserve open space, supply transportation, and provide access for EMS and fire fighting services and encourage the expansion to adequately serve the modern business aircraft. However, poor relationships between the airport and its host community are a severe threat to the survival of privately owned airports. These conflicting relationships can undermine the economic health of an airport by saddling it with the burden of legal proceedings arising from zoning ordinances designed specifically to restrict the airport's development. More importantly, these situations can prevent the extension of the airport's runway(s), precluding an airport from meeting the requirements of modern corporate aircraft. When the economic health of the airport suffers, the airport does not benefit the community to the extent that it could, and the community is less inclined to see it as an asset. The Commission has not attempted to determine whether the pure economic issues or the municipal issues are most critical to the future of the State's airports. The Commission recognizes that the State's privately owned general aviation airports are in jeopardy unless both issues are resolved. The Commission finds that the following elements promote a positive relationship: (1) open lines of communication, either through formal or informal channels; (2) residents and community leaders who understand the benefits of the airport; (3) an airport that is flexible in tailoring its operations to mitigate the concerns of the community; (4) a buffer zone around the airport consisting of open space, industrial land, or very low density housing; and (5) a mutual understanding of what is properly subject to municipal regulation and what is preempted by state and federal jurisdiction. The Commission recommends the establishment of programs to promote a positive relationship and encourage communication between general aviation facilities and its host and neighboring communities. These programs should include educational initiatives, the establishment of airport committees and the standardization of rules and regulations immediately affecting the airport and municipality. Educational Initiatives As a first step in laying the framework for improved municipal relations, this Commission recommends that the Legislature mandate increased educational initiatives by both the Division of Aeronautics and the Department of Commerce. Every school in this State, Chamber of Commerce, elected official and citizen should regularly receive information on the basics of aircraft and airport operations and the economic and social role of aviation in the State. Without this educational background, the elements of fear and mistrust in the citizenry and government bodies make rational progress impossible. It is important that the safety record of general aviation be properly communicated. Almost 70 years after Charles Lindbergh's flight, the general aviation industry in this State still has to fight the battle analogous to the conflict of automobiles and the horse. Just as cars have evolved from their dirty, noisy, and unreliable origins, modern aircraft are safer, cleaner and quieter than ever. In fact, general aviation aircraft are so safe and accidents so rare that every incident is a newspaper headline, while an automobile crash is hardly news. The economic education is almost as important as the safety education. Residents of New Jersey need to know the role played by corporate aviation in helping businesses meet the challenge of global competition. Specifically, people living in New Jersey need to know the economic impact of their local general aviation airport; how it serves to attract industry and high technology jobs; how an airport-office park or airport-industrial park is a winning combination; and how it preserves open space and thereby reduces the burden on the school system. Aircraft noise is also a main municipal concern that needs to be addressed through education. As set forth above aircraft noise has been reduced by almost half over the past 25 years. Programs presently underway will reduce it further. Yet the Commission learned that generally communities are not aware of this. They may not be annoyed by noise at the airport now, but they remember hearing loud aircraft, like the original Lear Jet. It was discovered that in every community where there is opposition to the airport, such fear of potential increased noise levels is one of the prevailing issues. Most of all they are afraid that they will be plagued with the noise of heavy airline type aircraft. They believe that any runway improved to accommodate business jets can also accommodate heavy airliners. General education is essential. Once the education goals are met, the problems in municipal relations will be greatly improved and a rational framework can be created for addressing specific problems. Establishment of Airport Committees The Commission recommends that every public use airport establish an airport-municipality advisory committee. This committee should be "recommended" for both the airport, the host municipality and the neighboring municipality (-ies). Every airport should demonstrate the conscientious attempt to establish an airport-municipality advisory committee as a prerequisite to receiving state aid. The airport committee should have quarterly meetings and could include in its membership the municipal planning board chair, the township engineer, an elected municipal representative, a representative of the planning board of each affected neighboring municipality, a neighborhood resident, two frequent users of the airport, the airport owner(s) and/or managers, and anyone e lse the airport deems to be appropriate such as the airport engineer, airport attorney, and chief flight instructor. It is not necessary and it is not intended that these Committees will be boards which will determine airport policy by majority vote. It is sufficient that committees simply ensure that the lines of communication are open and that the parties are communicating. The Committee will also serve the purpose of promoting the level of knowledge of aviation, as well as improving the level of awareness of the airport owner and its users on how their activities impact the community. The committees may deal with issues such as noise abatement procedures in the airport traffic pattern, designating a favored no-wind runway, identifying a maintenance run-up area, or considering the use of berms and any other noise abatement strategies. The committees may also offer input on which end of a runway to develop, where to locate new hangars and other airport expansion decisions. In time, it is hoped, these committees will serve to re-establish a measure of trust between the parties. An excellent example of such a committee is the Teterboro Airport Noise Abatement Advisory Committee ("TANAAC"). Formally established in 1987, TANAAC and its members include elected officials of the towns within five miles of the airport, county officials, State senators and assemblymen, the airport operator, the Port Authority, the FAA and airport users. "The main purpose of the [Teterboro] committee was to establish a meaningful dialogue between the airport community and the residential communities."319 The committee has worked with the FAA to improve instrument approach paths and descent profiles, revise helicopter routes and created a Runway 19 departure procedure that puts noise over the unpopulated meadowlands rather than residential areas.320 According to the Mayor of Moonachie, Frederick Dressel, "As far as TANAAC is concerned, I believe we are probably a model for municipal cooperation and aircraft operators' cooperation throughout the country."321 The Commission agrees. Teterboro is the busiest general aviation airport in the world, with operations affecting six municipalities. Through this Committee the airport and these municipalities have learned not just to peacefully co-exist, but to do so synergistically. Montgomery Township and Princeton Airport, which are attempting to heal the wounds of their past differences, are planning to establish a committee of this type, as well.322 Mayor Muriel Shore, Fairfield Township, testified, "I believe it is important for you, the Commission, to require establishment of airport advisory committees to exist between airports and their host community and/or [neighboring] communities. Coexistence issues are important and these committees are constructive vehicles for officials and residents to offer input and provide recommendations that are essential. These advisory committees are very valuable."323 As a result of all the evidence provided to the Commission and testimony received during its public hearings, the Commission agrees that these airport advisory committees are essential. SECURE A RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL EXERCISABLE IN THE EVENT AN AIRPORT SEEKS TO CHANGE ITS USE The Commission recommends that any grant of State aid to a general aviation facility be given on the condition of certain commitments made by an airport owner. State aid should be granted to only those facilities that have: (1) established an airport committee; and (2) provide the State with the right of first refusal to purchase an airport at the same price as that agreed to by a bona-fide third-party purchaser in an arm's length transaction. The right of first refusal should be given in the form of a deed with a covenant running with the land. The right could be exercised only in the event the airport owner was seeking to sell the airport land in a manner that would change it from an airport use. The State has a public interest in purchasing these facilities to maintain the State's general aviation system. This process will provide notice and opportunity for the State to do this. STANDARDIZATION OF RULES AND REGULATIONS The Commission recommends that NJDOT define in detail the facilities of a model airport for New Jersey in accord with the recommendations set forth herein and that the NJDOT take affirmative action to give notice that it alone may regulate activities at New Jersey airports. This authority will be exercised to the exclusion of all municipalities in the State. NJDOT should determine noise standards for particular land uses within the State and zoning requirements for areas surrounding airports. The standards thus developed should be uniformly applied throughout the State. Such standardization has proven successful in fostering positive relations between host municipalities and airports. The Commission's recommendation for State preemption is based on the fact that initiatives in this direction have proven successful for such purpose, and that airports are an economic necessity in the State transportation system and need to be regulated as such. When the Division implemented new licensing rules in 1993, it removed several issues from the Montgomery Township-Princeton Airport controversy.324 Those issues included aircraft refueling methods and the permissibility of a flight school. Montgomery Township had banned the practice of refueling of helicopters while the engine is running, a practice known as "hot refueling." The Township also had prohibited the operation of a flight school at the airport, citing the danger of having a school at the airport. The State, with its licensing laws, approved hot refueling if done in accordance with approved techniques. The State banned schools in the airport safety area, but made a specific exemption for flight training schools. Although neither the Township nor the airport was completely satisfied in this particular example, the parties were at least able to remove a few items from the debate, reducing the tension. The other benefit of this recommendation is the creation of uniform standards. Without uniform standards, some airports might be operating without sufficient regard for safety, while others might choke on rules designed to eliminate imaginary fears on the part of municipal officials. Lacking aviation experts in every one of the 48 municipalities hosting airports, it is unlikely that safe, prudent and reasonable standards would be individually adopted in each community.325 Since uniform regulation by the State has proven successful in other aviation areas, this Commission urges that it be expanded to include all aviation matters relating to airports. The Commission has heard testimony from both municipalities and airports supporting and opposing this proposal. In the words of the attorney for one municipality, "If you tell us what the rule is we will not have to fight about it any longer."326 AUTHORIZE STATE MAINTENANCE OF AIRPORTS The Commission recommends that NJDOT oversee the maintenance and repair of runways and taxiways, remove snow and maintain grass areas within the airport facility or provide funding for the counties to provide these services to its airports. The State currently provides funds to build runways. This investment by the State is at risk when the airport owners are unable to maintain them to the proper safety levels. A typical runway in its fourth year will be in need of normal surface maintenance. If it is neglected at this point, the costs to repair the surface increase disproportionately with each passing year. Recognizing the State's public interest to preserve and maintain its investment in its general aviation facilities, the Commission recommends NJDOT establish a regular program of maintenance. In addition, as part of its maintenance program, to the extent the NJDOT has snow plows and mowers available or can make equipment or funding available for county operations, the State should undertake to keep the general aviation airport system's runways open in times of heavy snow and to mow sight line areas and clear areas in the high grass season. ENCOURAGE SITING OF EMERGENCY AND HIGHWAY SERVICES ON GENERAL AVIATION FACILITY The Commission recommends that municipalities should be encouraged to utilize general aviation airports and the recommended airport zone as location sites for local fire stations, police stations and emergency rescue and similar emergency assistance services within the community. In addition airports are an ideal location for highway maintenance facilities. As discussed in the text, the location of aviation facilities has played a key role in the ability for emergency personnel to perform their jobs. EMT and firefighters have utilized general aviation airports as a means to more effectively serve the community when responding to emergencies. The State has also utilized these local service providers as a result of the flexibility presented by the State's general aviation system. The Commission strongly recommends continuing and encouraging the relationship between the local aviation facility and the emergency units serving the community and surrounding areas. REVISE STATE DEVELOPMENT AND REDEVELOPMENT PLAN The Commission recommends that the NJDOT develop a State Airport System Plan. This plan should address the projected socio-economic needs of the State through the year 2050. The Plan, when completed, should be incorporated into the State Development and Redevelopment Plan and it should be used as the basis for intermodal transportation services. These State plans should incorporate the improvement of current facilities to the standards of the NJDOT model airport and the development of new airports in key locations providing intermodal transportation services. In order to retain business in this State and to be competitive in attracting new businesses, New Jersey must have an adequate, coordinated, statewide airport transportation system. Businesses need a network of airports, with an airport close to their offices or plants, so that they can quickly and efficiently travel to meet with their customers and vendors, as well as to their plants in other states. Additionally, their customers and vendors need to be able to easily travel to visit them in New Jersey. Businesses need airports capable of accommodating business aircraft. Business aircraft need runways sufficiently long and wide, lighted for 24-hour operation and hangars to store and protect their aircraft. A business aircraft is an expensive piece of capital equipment. A top-of-the-line business jet costs over $30 million. Smaller business jets can cost $2 to $10 million. A turboprop aircraft costs at least $1 million. If businesses are to be encouraged to stay in New Jersey they must be able to utilize these business tools efficiently. This Commission recognizes the difficulty and expense of locating a new airport in the most densely populated state in the nation. Therefore, the Commission recommends, as an interim goal, that the existing airport network be expanded as much as possible consistent with the concept of the model airport. This program may be difficult and expensive, but it is overshadowed by the far greater cost of not doing it. INCORPORATE GENERAL AVIATION INTO STATE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS In addition, The Commission recommends that the State incorporate its general aviation airports into any economic development program and marketing materials when promoting New Jersey for corporate relocations. Recognizing the impact that general aviation facilities have on the entire State, New Jersey should follow the lead of other states that have utilized their state's general aviation system to promote their state in an aggressive manner. By promoting its airport facilities in economic development programs, New Jersey can use its general aviation system to attract business and industry into the State, thereby creating jobs to support its growing population. PROPER MIX OF PUBLICLY AND PRIVATELY OWNED GENERAL AVIATION FACILITIES While an example of the application for the following recommendations was set forth at the beginning of this Report, it bears repeating here that the initial query by which this Commission was to determine what is the proper mix of publicly- and privately- owned airports appeared to be simply how many should be owned in each manner. We find, however, that there are many options available to the Legislature. For example, it is not necessary to convert the entire aviation infrastructure to public ownership. The Commission recognizes an enormous benefit to the State by maintaining a public infrastructure through private capital. The following recommendations should serve to illustrate what some of those option are. First, it is recommended above that New Jersey will be served best by having at least one publicly owned general aviation airport in each county, and providing for one within ten minutes of each municipality of 35,000 or more inhabitants. Certain of the locations for these airports already exist and presently are public use airports. Others will need to be created anew and these should be planned as facilities to be entirely publicly owned. Second, it is recommended that the State develop equity rights in privately owned airports within the State by purchasing over time the development rights of all of them. This recommendation is set forth in detail above and need not be repeated here. Third, whenever, the State gives grants to aid the improvement of airports it should, as it does now, require a commitment of years prior to change of use of the land. The State thus acquires an easement for the public benefit in the airport. Fourth, the Commission recommends that the State exercise its power of eminent domain to acquire the land necessary to make the existing airport system economically viable and environmentally compatible. When it does so acquire land the State will retain title to the land and provide an easement to the airport owner to use the land for any purpose permitted in the airport zone. Fifth, it is recommended that whenever it grants aid to any privately owned public use airport, the State secure the right of first refusal to purchase any airport that has received such State aid in the event the owner seeks to change its use to a non-airport use. There are thus several mechanisms available for the State to participate in the mix of public-private airport ownership without having to invest all the capital required to develop the entire airport system infrastructure. CONCLUSION The State's general aviation airport infrastructure, for all of its recognized deficiencies, still represents an indispensable economic tool of the State. While New Jersey currently has the semblance of a general aviation system with 48 public use airports, the State ideally should have additional facilities and, at least, modernize the existing facilities to the extent necessary to service the rapidly growing business fleet of turbine powered aircraft. However, without a statewide policy to permanently preserve (land bank) the State's present general aviation airports, their owners will continue to cash in their real estate holdings at the rate of one airport per year and, within a generation's time, New Jersey will be suffering the loss of another 68 percent of the State's current (already substantially reduced) general aviation airport system. The Commission has dedicated substantial time, effort and concern to this study. By virtue of its statutory constitution the Commission was predisposed to discord on a number of issues, particularly issues concerning the municipality versus the airport; and the large airport versus the small airport. Our deliberations were never meetings of persons with similar points of view. However, the Commission is unanimous in its recognition of the dysfunctional nature of the State's air transportation system and the need to reconstruct it and; to that end, the Commission is unanimous in recommending the proposals set forth in this report to the Governor and the Legislature. Footnotes: 316 Sister State Survey, Appendix C. 317 Sister State Survey, Appendix C. 318 Sister State Survey, Appendix C. 319 NJGASC, 3/19/96. 320 NJGASC, 3/19/96. 321 NJGASC, 3/19/96, page 44. 322 NJGASC, 3/27/96, page 57. 323 NJGASC, 4/30/96, page 52. 324 NJGASC, 5/28/96, page 87. 325 Exhibit, 26, Economic Impact of New Jersey's General Aviation Airports, page 1. 326 NJGASC, 5/28/96, page 103.