Navy asked to buy land in
fly zone
BY
TIMOTHY O'HARA
Citizen Staff
Monroe County commissioners have asked the Navy to take local
noise samples and look into buying property below fighter-jet
paths.
The
County Commission held a public meeting with Naval Air Station
Key West officials Wednesday to discuss jet noise and changes to
maps showing high noise and accident potential zones. Navy
officials want the county to adopt the maps as a planning tool
for determining where development should and should not occur.
The
maps, called Air Installation Compatible Use Zones (AICUZ),
update similar maps created in 1977 to reflect jets' average
flight paths, noise levels and potential crash zones. Approval
of the updated maps could limit development and redevelopment in
certain areas of Stock Island, Geiger Key and other areas in the
Lower Keys.
The
county has shied away from approving the new zones, partly in
fear of being sued for taking away property owners' development
rights. As part of a lawsuit settlement, the county agreed to
let developers build a housing complex on Enchanted Island,
northeast of Stock Island, which is in an accident potential
zone, base commander Capt. J.R. Brown said.
The
County Commission has approved plans for the development, and
commissioners said they are worried the county would be sued if
they approved the AICUZ map and followed its recommendations to
bar residential development on Enchanted Island. Commissioner
Dixie Spehar proffered the idea of the Navy buying that land and
other parcels that are in the AICUZ. She argued the county would
have to buy Enchanted Island if the commission approved the
AICUZ.
"Why don't you buy it?" Spehar asked.
The
county is "getting beat up with takings cases that is getting
into the millions of dollars," County Commissioner George
Neugent said. "The Navy and the state screwed up by not buying
this property."
The
debate about the AICUZ comes as many Lower Keys residents have
been complaining about increased noise from F/A-18 Super Hornet
fighter jets, which residents argue were allowed to train at the
Boca Chica airfield without the Navy doing the proper
environmental impact statement. A lawyer for a group of
homeowners has sent the assistant secretary of the Navy a letter
requesting his office investigate the matter.
Spehar requested the Navy measure noise around the base, instead
of relying on the sound modeling computer program that helped
produce the AICUZ.
Brown responded that the Navy would be willing to work with the
county to resolve individual issues, and said there is a federal
fund that pays for land acquisition around military bases. Brown
also underscored the importance of the county approving the
AICUZ. He said the current AICUZ model, which the county adopted
nearly a decade ago, is "obsolete and does not provide the best
information for land-use planning."
tohara@keysnews.com |
