As the Millville Public School System considers locations for a new high school, AOPA is urging the district not to choose sites that would create conflict between the airport and community.
Two of the five proposed sites for the new Millville, N.J., school district high school are in close proximity to the Millville Municipal Airport. One, on Cedar Street across from Bogden Boulevard, would place the school under the visual traffic patterns for both Runway 14 and 10. The other, at Hogbin Road, is located under the final approach for Runway 14.
“Locating the school on either site would raise safety concerns, and likely would expose students, teachers, and other school patrons to considerable noise, dust, fumes, vibrations, and other distractions and disturbances,” AOPA Director of Advocacy Joey Colleran wrote in a letter to school superintendent Dr. Shelley Schneider. “It is our view that these two proposed sites are completely incompatible with the airport, and that the school should not be built in either of these locations.”
Incompatible land use between the airport and the school may polarize the community and create conflicts for planning, school, and local government officials, Colleran wrote. And once the school is in place, there is no effective way to mitigate future concerns that will arise.
Colleran urged the Millville Public School System to seek guidance from the airport sponsor and the Delaware River and Bay Authority, and consider the other proposed sites that would not affect the airport.
