By Jeff Hampton
The Virginian-Pilot
Elizabeth City
Camden County native Dorothy Owens stood Tuesday in front of about 300 people and 13 officials, including a Navy admiral, to plead her case for why jets should not practice landings near her home.
If the Navy built an outlying landing field in eastern Camden County, as it has listed as a possibility, Owens' farm would be in the direct path of projected jet flights. She said her Arabian horse business would be ruined and that she would have to leave the farm that her family has owned since the 1770s.
Others made similar statements to the group of 12 people appointed by Gov. Mike Easley to help find an alternative to a site the Navy selected in 2003 in Washington County.
Also seated on the stage at the Elizabeth City State University Fine Arts Center was Rear Adm. David Anderson, vice commander of the Navy's Norfolk-based Fleet Forces Command.
Anderson said the Navy will need the OLF regardless of whether there is encroachment at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach or the Fentress auxiliary field in Chesapeake.
The Navy wants to communicate better with residents near wherever it builds a new field and may not remove land from the tax books, he said. In spite of his comments, one after another, speakers from several North Carolina counties said they opposed the OLF.
Seven northeastern counties - Camden, Currituck, Hertford, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Gates and Chowan - have passed resolutions opposing an outlying landing field in the region.
In September, Navy and North Carolina officials announced six new potential sites for an OLF. The new sites come in addition to five others named in 2001. Twenty-two sites in North Carolina and Virginia now have been suggested.
Of two new potential sites in Camden County, one borders the property of private military company Blackwater, the other borders a tract that was proposed for a mega-landfill.
Two others are in Gates County, and the other two are in southeastern North Carolina.
The Navy plans to decide by Nov. 15 whether any of the new sites will be studied further.
Jeff Hampton, (252) 338-0159 jeff.hampton@pilotonline.com
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OLF Alternatives
There are several properties that were former OLFs in North Carolina. There's one at Atlantic, and another near Pollocksville. Why doesn't the military consider reopening those facilities that they already own instead of purchasing new land, or does that make too much sense? This idea has been mentioned several times but is always quietly dismissed.
does anyone understand
Does anyone understand just what the OLF means to a rural area? The core will be 2,000 acres, the buffer zone is 30,000 acres. No homes will be allowed in the core area (the Navy takes your homes and properties), homes in 11,000 acres in the buffer will be disallowed, the whole 30,000 acres will feel the viberations from the planes. Would you want to give up everything, property that has been in your family for over 125 years and family cemetery just as old? What about the farmers who will lose their living? Why must our properties and way of living be taken just because VB allowed developement? Why should we suffer because VB didn't do what the Navy told them to do?
Why not consider the "Open Grounds Farm?"
An OLF in the "Open Grounds Farm" in Carteret County would be about 12 miles NE of Beaufort and about 20 miles east of MCAS Cherry Point. It would be 6-10 miles from any home and the property is owned by one company. Why has this property not been considered? The OLF would not significantly hurt the farm's operations and is far away from people.
Those Carolina folks get the picture
Why would anyone want the excessive noise of FA-18s near where they live? We have lived on the north end of Great Neck Rd. in Va Beach for almost 25 years and only since the introduction of the FA-18s has noise been a problem. Now, we cannot enjoy being outside when the Navy is practicing since you cannot carry on a conversation. When are the folks that lead Va Beach going to understand that that much noise is just not compatible with anything other than a desolate area? And, no one seems to want to address the safety aspects of training flights in a densely populated area. Think about it the next time you shop at or attend a movie at Lynnhaven Mall.