Monmouth Airport Owner & County Battle Over Inspection, Safety Claims

WALL, NJ — The Monmouth County Board of Commissioners says the owner of Monmouth Executive Airport hindered their attempts to inspect the property, part of an ongoing dispute between the county and the airport’s owner.

The county hired Merchant Aviation to conduct a full-scale analysis of the airport, as well as its conditions and amenities, for safety purposes, officials said.

Merchant Aviation consultants were given two hours between 1 and 3 a.m. on Nov. 22 to study over three miles of runway and taxiway, according to officials.

Monmouth Executive Airport owner Alan Antaki and his attorneys say the inspection is just a pretext to seize the property by eminent domain so the county can operate the airport itself. Eminent domain refers to the government’s ability to take private property for public use.

Thomas Arnone, the director of the Monmouth County Board of Commissioners, said the county was looking into the possibility of taking over the airport due to reports of safety concerns.

“Representatives from the County have heard disturbing reports from a variety of sources about the condition of the airport and its supporting facilities,” Arnone said. “I recently toured the airport and came away with my own, serious concerns, both about safety at the airport and its financial viability.”

Antaki’s attorneys filed an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request for a log of the alleged complaints about the airport, but the county’s records custodian replied that the county had “no public records regarding such reports.”

In an email statement sent to Patch, a spokesperson for Monmouth County said that Arnone has heard "multiple reports that raised safety concerns about the integrity of the airport and its runway."

"We are unaware of any improvements that have been made to shore up the airport’s safety in the decade-plus the current owner has controlled it," the spokesperson said. "To be responsible and to ensure the airport’s true condition, it was essential to gain access to the property for an accurate and comprehensive assessment of the airport’s safety."

When experts arrived at the airport on Nov. 22 – the date and time previously agreed to for the inspection – county officials claim Merchant Aviation staff were told they could not visually inspect the runway and taxiways beyond the given two-hour window, and were told they could not separate into smaller groups to be more efficient.

As a result, county officials said nearly two miles of runway and taxiway, as well as dozens of on-site buildings, were not examined.

“As commissioners, the safety and security of our residents, visitors, and business owners are our top priority,” Arnone said. “Upon receiving a number of reports concerning the airport’s safety, it became our duty to ensure it is in top shape for all who use it.”

“If the property owner has nothing to hide, our experts would have been granted the time needed to properly assess the property,” Arnone continued. “Our team complied with all of the property owner’s requirements, and we hope next time, he’ll comply with ours.”

“The county does not have jurisdiction over airport operations or airport safety,” said Matt Dolan, Antaki’s attorney. “That is the province of the New Jersey Department of Transportation or — in some cases — the Federal Aviation Administration.”

After the airport’s most recent annual inspection (including an inspection of airport runways), Dolan said that the NJ Department of Transportation licensed the facility for another year.

Dolan also said the county did not object to the time or duration of the airport inspection when it was agreed upon in November.

In addition, Antaki’s attorneys said county consultants failed to notify the tenants of occupied outbuildings near the airport that they wanted to inspect their business premises, which they say the county is required to do by law before an inspection.

“Mr. Arnone continues to cling to the fiction that his interest in seizing the airport is necessary to protect the people who use the facility that I own and operate,” Antaki said. “His claims are a deception to hide his real reasons for wanting my property.”

“Tom Arnone’s ongoing false narrative regarding ‘concerns over safety’ is designed to solely harm the airport and its ongoing operations in furtherance of Arnone’s self-stated ‘pet peeve’ about wanting to own an airport because three other counties in New Jersey do,” Dolan said.

In September, Antaki filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Monmouth County, the Monmouth County Sheriff and the Monmouth County Parks Department, alleging that his First Amendment rights were violated when his employees were prohibited from accessing county fairgrounds to distribute leaflets informing people of the county’s attempt to seize his property.

According to Antaki, three of his employees were removed from the fair after being there for 10 minutes by county park rangers and sheriff’s officers, who escorted them to an area outside the fairground entrance and made them stand near a couple of sheriff’s vehicles.

A few minutes later, Antaki said one of the rangers spray-painted a square box on the ground which the workers were then told to stand inside. Antaki said his employees were told they could not talk to or approach any fairgoers and that their fliers could only be handed to people who asked for them.

When Antaki learned the county appointed a consultant to evaluate his airport’s safety conditions in September, he told the Asbury Park Press that the inspection was a pretext to seize the airport using eminent domain.

Antaki’s attorneys say Arnone is setting a “dangerous precedent for property owners in Monmouth County.”

“If these private property owners do not meet Arnone’s standard, does the county have the right to take over the operation of those businesses?” Dolan said. “All property owners in the county should be concerned about Commissioner Arnone’s statements about the role of county government.”

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to include a statement from a Monmouth County spokesperson.