[CPEO-MEF] Langley Air Force Base (VA) & encroachment

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Other Voices: Action today will protect Langley tomorrow

Opinion, by Charlie Sapp
Hampton Roads Daily Press (VA)
September 3, 2005

If the recent events surrounding Oceana weren't the shot heard 'round 
the world, the boom certainly has been heard here in Hampton Roads. As a 
Navy pilot, I flew out of Naval Air Station Cecil Field from 1970 to 
1976. In the context of the Cold War, that airfield was vital to 
national defense and its closure was literally unthinkable. Twenty years 
later Cecil Field was no more, and now Oceana faces the same fate. So, 
what are we to do about Langley Air Force Base?

It's a two-part problem: land use and military value.

Much has been rightly said about the shopping centers and the AMC cinema 
complex built immediately under the flight path. The city must tighten 
our zoning ordinances and stick to a Langley-friendly land use plan, no 
matter how enticing a future development deal looks. The policies we put 
in place now must have procedural safeguards built in. The military 
leadership at Langley must be actively involved in the city's land-use 
decisions when those decisions potentially encroach on flight 
operations. Finally, this can't just be a Hampton show, it must include 
the participation of all communities on the Peninsula.

...

For the entire column, see
http://www.dailypress.com/news/opinion/dp-75562sy0sep03,0,5409512.story

--
Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org
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