Hi everyone...

A co-worker jokingly asked me if I wanted to buy an airport, so I
jokingly replied, "sure!" It turns out the airport that's for sale is
Andover-Aeroflex airport in Sussex County, NJ, one of the most charming
strips of pavement this side of the Mississippi. The runway is bordered
by two lakes, and is surrounded by a wonderful park and lots of rustic
charm. Asking price: $9.8 million.

The thing that caught my eye was the actual advertisement for the
property, which reads as follows:

"Property approx 147 acres w/a functional airport. Former farmer's
market, 3 homes, beautiful lake, part of the parcel, 37 acres across
the road zoned for residential. Property sold as a package but already
subdivided. A few feet from Rt. 206 w/great exposure. Zoning is
industrial/aviation great for flying use, schools, churches,
agriculture, corporate offices, large store chains, rest homes,
restaurants and more. Call for details. Exclusive office listing."

It's the latter half of the ad that has me concerned, talking about
"schools, churches, ..., corporate offices, large store chains". Is
that something that might threaten this airport? I know the current
state of affairs in this country is that developers basically get their
way no matter the cost to the environment, public, or any particular
group of people (in this case, pilots and open space advocates). Any
realistic chance that, when the airport is sold, somebody could come in
and develop it to the scale that the airport is no longer usable?

--
Guy Elden Jr.