BRAC: Florida claims doubted
Report: Site would have same type of flaws that panel found for Oceana
BY BILL GEROUX
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, October 5, 2005
VIRGINIA BEACH -- Virginia officials trying to stop jets and jobs at Oceana Naval Air Station from being moved to Florida found encouragement in a news report yesterday. It said the Florida airfield would suffer from the same problems of suburban encroachment that have placed Oceana in jeopardy.

The Florida Times-Union of Jacksonville reported that, contrary to what Florida officials told the independent base-closing commission in August, as many as 925 homes are in the crash zones near the runways at Jacksonville's Cecil Field, which the Navy closed in 1999.

Florida and Jacksonville officials had touted an absence of homes in Cecil Field's crash zones as part of their bid to acquire the jets from Oceana, whose primary crash zones contain roughly 3,400 homes.

The base-closure commission has given Virginia Beach until late March to decide whether to clear Oceana's crash zones of homes and businesses -- a divisive task that could cost $400 million -- or lose the 200 jets and 12,000 jobs to Cecil Field.

The Times-Union reported that some of the homes near Cecil Field's runways predate the base's closure six years ago, while others were built after the closure loosened land-use restrictions in the area. The newspaper quoted Florida officials as saying they gave the base-closure commission the best data available at the time.

For weeks, Virginia officials have complained the commission failed to examine Florida's claims as closely as it examined Oceana.

"It's remarkable the commission didn't do more due diligence," Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner told reporters during a visit to Hampton Roads this week. The governor said Virginia officials would be sure to point out the newspaper report to the Navy.

How the report might affect the struggle between the states for the jets was unclear yesterday.
Robert Matthias, a lobbyist for Virginia Beach, said yesterday that Virginia officials told the base-closure commission in August that Cecil Field's crash zones contained numerous homes, although firm numbers were not available. "The commission seemed to basically ignore our argument," Matthias said.

The commission has no appeals process, so its ultimatum to Virginia Beach on Oceana apparently will stand, Matthias said. But he said the Navy certainly will consider the homes in Cecil Field's crash zones as part of its own study of where is the best long-term location for the jets.

Virginia Beach is eagerly awaiting the results of that study, due in mid-November, because the city is reluctant to spend millions of dollars clearing out Oceana's crash zones if the Navy might move the jets in a few years anyway. Many of the Virginia Beach homes predate the establishment of Oceana as a Navy airfield.

Matthias said he expects the Navy to find still more holes in the arguments Florida made to the base-closing commission.

"That's all good from our perspective," he said. "The more warts on Cecil Field that Florida self-discovers or that we point out, the better for Oceana."