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| An F-18 Hornet roars off the runway at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach.
(Bill Tiernan | The Virginian-Pilot file photo) |
By Susan E. White
The Virginian-Pilot
VIRGINIA BEACH
More than three months after a multimillion-dollar settlement was reached with several thousand Virginia Beach and Chesapeake property owners over Navy jet noise, the “sound of freedom” is once again being challenged in federal courts.
Lawyers representing another wave of plaintiffs filed a class-action claim on Wednesday that could potentially represent thousands of property owners around Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach and Fentress Naval Auxiliary Landing Field in Chesapeake. Damages estimated in the claim are for $500 million.
The lawsuit was one of two complaints filed with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington on behalf of plaintiffs who claim that loud F/A-18 Navy Hornets have lowered the value of their homes and negatively affected their everyday lives. The lawsuits state that the jets encroached on their properties.
Five property owners are listed as representatives for the class-action case. They are Virginia Beach property owners Thomas and Evalyn Askins; J. Brian and Patricia Donnelly; and Paul and Constance Weisberg. The Chesapeake homeowners are James Jr. and Rose Ann Bergey and Morris and Nancy Deal. None of the homeowners could be reached Wednesday evening for comment.
A second complaint, representing owners of 1,375 properties, also was filed in the same court. Damages for the second suit are estimated at $50 million. It was filed as a “safety” suit in case a judge denies the residents’ request to certify the class-action lawsuit, said Maryland lawyer Martin Wolf, a member of a team of attorneys representing plaintiffs. If it is certified, plaintiffs in the second suit would join the class-action complaint, he said.
The additional lawsuit also ensures that at least some property owners are able to pursue a claim before the statute of limitations expires, Wolf said. Federal law requires that property owners who want to sue the United States in overflight takings’ lawsuits bring their claims within six years of first suffering harm.
Jim Brantley, a spokesman for Fleet Forces Command in Norfolk, said Wednesday that Navy officials had not received any information on the lawsuits and could not comment on the cases.
A Justice Department spokesman said federal officials also had not seen the lawsuits and could not comment.
Meanwhile, plaintiffs’ attorneys said the latest lawsuits speak to the continuing interference of Navy jet noise on homeowners’ lives.
“I think there are clearly people who are having their lives disrupted by loud jet noise, whether in their sleep or trying to carry on conversations inside their homes,” said the Virginia Beach plaintiffs’ attorney, Jack Ferrebee . “That’s their primary motivation for signing up.”
The class-action suit is similar to one filed in April 2001 in which nine property owners in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake alleged that the arrival of the Navy’s F/A-18 Hornets by July 1999 subjected their homes to substantially louder noise, devaluing their property.
Virginia Beach property tax assessment records show that homes around Oceana have continued to increase in value, but plaintiffs assert that their properties would be valued even more without the jet noise.
Furthermore, plaintiffs said the relocation of the Hornets was the federal government’s taking of their property without just compensation, a violation of the Fifth Amendment.
The latest lawsuits were filed under the same belief, said Ferrebee, who compared the government’s action to building a highway through a person’s property.
“If the government burdens an individual, all citizens have to share in that burden,” he said. “It’s not as if these folks are acting in a radical way. They are acting in a way that the Constitution contemplated.”
A judge eventually denied a request to certify the 2001 class-action complaint, forcing more than 2,000 property owners involved in the case to file their own individual lawsuits. In May, the Justice Department and the Navy reached a $34.4 million settlement with those plaintiffs.
Ferrebee said that allowing the latest class-action complaint to go forward could “resolve issues involving all properties within the noise contours.”
One possible debate involving the cases is whether time has already run out for any lawsuits to be filed against the federal government. Plaintiffs’ lawyers contend the current deadline for filing other similar lawsuits would be Tuesday.
Susan E. White, (757) 222-5114,
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You guys are hilarious
When I bought my home in VaBch, I checked out the local schools, places to shop, things to do, looked at the local crime rate and decided on a home. Now someone tells me there's a Naval Jet base in the area? Ya gotta be kidding me! And on top of that, home prices have declined in VaBch? Home prices may be on their way down, but it has nothing to do with the base. Lemme guess, it's that interest only, negative amortized, adjustable rate mortgage that you took out that's hurting ya. And of course, these same folks will be the first in line to sue their lender and will be looking for a government hand out.
The pandora's box has been open.
The Pandora's box has been open. If a neighbor gets 10 or 20K, many others will hop on the bandwagon, even if they are not that concerned over the noise. I have little doubt that will be a third lawsuit soon.
Laughing!!
Laughing that I moved 6 months ago due to the illegals, the police indifference, the city's criminal dealings on a day to day basis, laughing at the people who want the Navy out and laughing that if the Navy leaves, VB will turn into a bigger scum place full of low wage jobs and throw away careers. I'm laughing that my house has appreciated to almost double what I paid for it. With no VB politics, with NO traffic jams. My apology, I can't hear all of you whiners-it's so quiet out here on 2 acres in North Carolina-and yes..I know about the OLF and I as a Navy veteran will vote NO. It's a pleasure to see both sides squirm like this-all while your being taxed to death and sitting in traffic on your way to a low wage job. Laughing at you all!
Future of the Base!!!!
Here is the deal; the more that people complain and file lawsuits, the government will eventually do something about them. They did they same thing where I grew up; that was until the Air Force closed the base, now that the town has lost the money from the base everyone moved out and drugs and crime moved in. So keep complaining, make the government close the base so you can have your peace and quiet! However, do not complain to us when crime and drugs replace jet noise!
People that live in the fly zone
Move.
NAS Oceana was there first
The only relevant question in this debate is when the homeowner bought their house. If they bought it before NAS Oceana was established, then I would agree that they have a valid argument against the Navy. On the other hand, if they bought their house with full knowledge that it was located near a military jet base, then they have no argument. Who doesn't realize that a house near a jet base is going to be bombarded by noise? Yes, I live in Norfolk. But for 20 years I owned a home in VB, right in one of Oceana's landing patterns. When the noise got to be too much, I did the sensible thing, I moved. It never occured to me to sue the Navy, after all, when NAS Oceana was built, there weren't that many houses, Blame the developers.
Hmmm...
Last commenter stated how the operations at Oceana have expanded...giving the citizens the right to complain. Hmmmm....kind of like town center??? City sure has expanded that area...but you tell me that I have no right to complain about it. Such hypocrits!! Point is, I have to except the fact that the city is "growing" for financial and economic gain. Well, you have to except the fact that our military advances and operations will expand. Difference between the two...I've been here way before town center. Most likely none of you have been around before the jet base.
Stupid comments are worse than jet noise
You know, Navy jets fly over my home, sometimes very late at night, but I knew they would when I bought my home and I accept their presence. But my reaction to jet noise is nothing compared to the way my teeth grind when someone writes "That's the sound of freedom" or makes a similar comment connecting patriotism and this issue. First, it's the kind of argument I expect to hear from a teenager. It's childish and convinces no one. Secondly, while I agree that people who knowingly moved into an area where jets practice have no right to complain, the Navy's operations have expanded, its jets have gotten louder, and some people were in their home before the jets arrived. They do have a right to complain. Cut them some slack.
C'mon Be original
All you nay sayers can say is, Move! Be original,can't you come up with anything else?It's like the saying, "which came first the chicken or the egg?" I think Otto t. said it best "Jealousy is a disease". If you can't say anything original, just don't say anything. "Jet Noise MakesYou Dumb".hehehe
You wouldn't understand unless you lived there...
As a person living near Fentress, I can personally say the noise is pretty loud. The planes generally don't fly until 9:30 or later, although it is getting earlier now that it is getting darker earlier. When we bought our home, the noise level said 75db, but 75db should not vibrate windows. The only time that planes fly in and out of Fentress is at night, so, I'm sorry that I didnt sit outside of the home I was looking to buy at 11pm to listen for jets. To all the people who say that the plantiffs in the class action suit are greedy, well, maybe they are... but they have a legimate complaint. Personally, I believe in a strong military, just not flying over my house at 11pm. The planes are loud -- period.