No public comments to be taken at sessions
Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Navy officials will be in Camden and Currituck counties in early May to outline the process they'll follow to evaluate the Hales Lake area for a possible jet pilot training field.
Navy "scoping" meetings, which kick off a 30-month environmental impact statement study process, are scheduled for May 5 in Camden and May 6 in Currituck.
The meeting in Camden has been scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at Camden High School. A time and location for the Currituck meeting has not been set; county officials plan to ask the Navy to pick another day because May 6 is the date for primary elections in North Carolina.
Currituck Manager Dan Scanlon said the meetings will give the Navy a chance to provide details about its outlying landing field proposal.
"The Navy is going to bring their team down, various experts," he said. "People who have questions can get them asked and answered."
However, the meetings won't be public hearings, Scanlon said. Residents won't be allowed to speak at either hearing but they will be able to submit comments to the Navy in writing, he said.
"There will be times during the EIS process that there will be public hearings," he said.
The Navy proposes to study five sites — two in North Carolina and three in Virginia —for its OLF.
Residents in Camden and Currituck have formed opposition groups to try and deter the Navy from picking the Hales Lake site for the field, where F/A-18 SuperHornet pilots would practice night landings and takeoffs.
Residents in both counties believe the jet noise from the OLF would hurt property values and damage their rural way of life.
Camden resident Larry Johnson, president of Concerned Citizens Against the OLF in Camden, said he is unsure how the group will respond to the Navy's proposal at the May 5th meeting.
"I'll wait and see what they present, and we'll respond accordingly," he said.
Johnson said it's a shame the scoping meetings kick off the 30-month study process. News of the study is already hurting real estate values in Camden, he said.
"It is affecting everything, the growth and real estate," Johnson said. "It's got to be disclosed now (in real estate transactions) that the area is a potential OLF site."
Comments
By Carl Kuhn
Apr 4, 2008 11:21 PM | Link to this
Does anyone really believe that employees that would fill those 50 jobs would reside in Currituck or Camden counties? Would you willingly live next to an OLF, especially if you worked with the noise all day? Or would you reside in Chesapeake a good distance from the noise and in an area that is rapidly developing and would have a better potential of increasing in value. Speaking as a resident of Moyock who works in Virginia, very little of my state taxes remain in VA. The opposite will also be true and any of the employees living in VA will cause the lionýs share of the taxes to stay in VA. Also if any of those jobs were to be filled by Military members who do not have North Carolina listed as home of record, NC would see none of the taxes. I wouldn't have high hopes that the miniscule 50 jobs in this area would offset the loss of property values that we would experience.
By NCguy
Mar 26, 2008 9:13 PM | Link to this
Dave,
excessive housing development? So long as the County is expanding wisely, this is a good thing. Proper population growth is what communities strive for.
You would accept stagnation so 50 new jobs could be started in Camden County. You would have to throw in Currituck as they are also being impacted. So each county gets 25 new jobs and the growth of the county is slowed. But it is better then a trash dump.
You would accept your county being split for the next 50 - 70 years or more with a jet facility that the Navy has stated is not required. WHY? There are other more efficient ways to curb growth, control government services etc. This OLF is not a win for Camden County. While it would be a win for pilots, having Camden County sacrifice your growth for the mismanagement of Chesapeake and Virginia Beach seems wrong. I would not want my rural atmosphere hampered to support that.
If the Navy wishes to give their pilots the best, they should correct the problems around Oceana and Fentress before coming to NC. They do not intend on doing this correction. Camden nor Gates County should not be the only ones that must provide a first-rate facility. Oceana and Fentress must be made first-rate as well and should this should be accomplished before any studies are performed for another OLF.
By David
Mar 25, 2008 10:08 AM | Link to this
The biggest problem Camden has is high taxes caused by excessive housing development. The OLF would reduce overdevelopment and help to stabilize the expensive of government services. Most of the affected acreage could continue as farmland thereby maintaining the rural character of the county. Some jobs would be created, farmers could still farm, tax growth would be reduced. Sounds like a much better deal than a trash dump.
By BRUCE
Mar 25, 2008 8:32 AM | Link to this
I agree Joe. With bases shutting down and funding supposedly running low, why can't they consider using a site that has been shut down. I moved to Moyock for peace and quiet that is worth the 2 hour commute to and from work everyday, but leave it to the government to screw it up. They always do.
By Joe Ford
Mar 24, 2008 6:56 PM | Link to this
Stupid Navy, and the crooked politicians waiting to get bribed. The Navy has plenty of runway space in Norfolk, Oceanna and Chesapeake. If the people who built houses next to the runways dont like it screw em but dont come out here with it. Bases are shutting down why waste money building a new one.
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