Buffers may aid N.C. bases
By Jay Price, The News
& Observer
Gov. Mike Easley's office is studying ways to steer
development away from military bases and flight training routes, which criss-cross
the state like broad aerial highways.
The military is among the
state's strongest economic engines, and with what some in Washington call
"the mother of all base-closing rounds" scheduled to be announced in 2005,
state leaders want to shore up weaknesses in
North Carolina
bases -- and maybe even make them attractive enough to gain troops and
equipment from bases closed elsewhere.
Development near bases -- which generates complaints about noisy training
such as artillery fire or aircraft maneuvers -- has been a nationwide issue
for years. A massive housing project built on the southern edge of
Fort Bragg,
for example, forced the base to stop using one practice zone for parachuting
heavy equipment, though it can still be used for paratroopers.
In North Carolina, communities and bases already are working together to lessen the problem. Local governments around Fort Bragg/Pope Air Force Base, Camp Lejeune and Cherry Point Marine Air Station have finished or are working on joint land-use studies that recommend ways to control encroachment.
But the governor's advisory commission on military affairs thinks the state could play a role, too. Among other things, it has recommended to Easley that the state require local governments to create buffer zones around bases.
In those buffers, real estate transactions would have to include a disclosure form making it clear that noise and military accidents were possible in the area. Also, new homes, churches or schools would have to be built with noise-blocking techniques. And the commission recommended that state agencies give priority for open space and conservation programs to projects within the buffers.
The problems with development near bases are well-known. But development under low-level flight corridors -- which pass mainly over rural areas, unpopulated parkland and open water -- is a new problem for state officials.
Several said the first they had heard of it was during a military affairs commission meeting in February, when officers from Seymour Johnson and Pope raised the issue. They said development eventually could threaten the bases by rendering the crucial training routes useless.
The problem is this: The number of spots in the corridors designated as noise-sensitive -- which pilots have to fly around or high above -- has been increasing, military officials say. Most such zones are housing developments, but they also include horse-breeding operations, schools and wildlife sanctuaries.
In most cases, those zones are created by military officials who oversee the routes, typically after a complaint. Also, members of Congress can force the military to create a noise-sensitive area after a constituent complains.
"The bottom line is that we're running out of space where we can train at 500 feet," said Col. Dave Russell, vice commander of the 4th Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson.
Training a few hundred feet off the ground is crucial for pilots, because it requires different flying and navigational skills than higher-altitude flying and because pilots often have to fly low in combat.
The proliferation of the noise- sensitive zones affects all pilots who train on the routes, but perhaps the biggest effect is on training for inexperienced pilots, Russell said. They struggle to stay in formation with their instructors if they have to keep swerving around noise-sensitive areas at 550 mph.
The advisory commission is recommending to Easley that the real estate disclosures also be required under the low-level routes. This, commission members say, could persuade builders to choose sites outside the corridors, which average 10 miles in width.
Easley administration officials say the disclosure requirement probably would be easier to get through the legislature than some of the commission's other recommendations, which will need even more study. But they're not committing to it yet.
The measure may not prove controversial. The powerful N.C. Home Builders Association wouldn't have any problem with a disclosure requirement, said Paul Wilms, its head lobbyist.
"I think that would be a prudent step," he said. "It's always better for people to find out about things like that before a sale rather than afterward."
Other rumored means of stopping or slowing encroachment -- especially any that would restrict development near bases without compensating landowners -- would be a different matter, he said.
It's unlikely that the disclosure requirement would stop the spread of the noise-sensitive areas, said Troy Pate, head of the advisory commission on military affairs. But it's a start, he said, one that perhaps, by raising awareness, could lead to stronger measures.
"I know something's got to happen," Pate said. "You can interfere with the military's mission and they'll work with you, but after a while, when they just can't take any more, they'll just wave goodbye."
Find out what commercial real estate professionals in these companies have been up to!
Charlotte
Commercial Properties
Crosland
Grubb & Ellis|Bissell Patrick
McGuire Properties, Inc.
NAI Southern Real Estate
SouthEast Commercial Real Estate
Transwestern Percival, LLC
Get Your News in The Voice!
Email press releases to erica@crcbr.org
Don't wait until June,
2004!
Check out the new education schedule for
Fall 2003...
Mandatory Update - Commercial Ver.
Ethics for the Commercial REALTOR
Technology Classes
Commercial Certificate Program
Watch for more information on
these upcoming programs:
Fall Forecast -
September
Golf Tournament - October
Mixed-Use Bus Tour - November
Annual
Meeting - December
NEW to The Voice, career opportunities
may be placed in the newsletter by member companies free of charge.
Contact Erica Rohrbacher for more information at 704.377.8982 or email
erica@crcbr.org.
Click on the job title below to view a description.
Senior Asset Manager
Click on the links below to visit our sponsor websites.
Cousins Properties, Inc.
Floyd Smith
Office Park
Huntersville Business
Park
Kannapolis
Gateway
Business
Park
Lauth Property Group
AAC Real Estate
Services, Inc.
D.S.S. Corporation
The Keith
Corporation
Coldwell Banker
Commercial-MECA
Wishart Norris
Henninger & Pittman, PA
Klingman Williams
NAI Southern Real Estate
Trammell Crow Company
CRCBR
PO Box 36566
Charlotte, NC 28236-6566
704.377.8982 phone
704.377.8983 fax
info@crcbr.org
www.crcbr.org