
DATE: Friday, September 12, 1997            TAG: 9709120593

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: By JOHN MURPHY, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  149 lines

OCEANA EXPANSION: 180 MORE JETS, 12,500 MORE PEOPLE WHAT IT WOULD MEAN VICTORY MAY COME AT SOME COST TO CITIES' QUALITY OF LIFE.

There is plenty to celebrate, should Virginia Beach wind up getting 11 Navy jet squadrons - an infusion of jobs, cash and a measure of security for one of the region's main economic engines.

But the victory would come with some quality-of-life consequences: jets thundering over residential neighborhoods, congested roads and an influx of children into crowded school districts.

A Navy draft report, released in detail Thursday, recommends that all 180 F/A-18 Hornets at soon-to-close Cecil Field near Jacksonville, Fla., go to Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach.

Virginia Beach officials cautioned that the report was only a draft. It must face the review of critics and be approved by the Navy. Politics has been known to undermine military plans.

In the meantime, Hampton Roads officials are scrambling to understand the full impact of what could be a total victory.

But, the report shows, the arrival of the 180 jets would affect the quality of life well beyond Oceana Naval Air Station and Fentress Airfield in Chesapeake.

Virginia Beach City Manager James K. Spore said the arrival of the squadrons to Oceana would eclipse the economic impact of attracting two major automobile plants to the region.

Tennessee heralded the landing of a Saturn plant in 1990, and Alabama trumpeted the opening of a Mercedes-Benz factory this year, he noted.

``Together, they only equal half of the total economic impact of Oceana,'' Spore said. Adding the 11 squadrons ``would be the biggest thing to happen in Hampton Roads in the last 20 years.''

The numbers, outlined in the Navy's report, are impressive.

If all 11 F/A-18 squadrons land in Virginia Beach, Navy ranks would swell by 5,600 additional military and civilian employees. The current personnel level at Oceana is 8,100.

The new employees would have an average salary of $27,000 each, and would inject $226 million into the local economy, raising the air station's economic impact to $719 million a year.

The transfers would bring spouses and children, adding another 6,900 residents to the region. Of the 12,500 newcomers, about 75 percent would be expected to settle in Virginia Beach.

Construction and renovation to handle the new jets would pump another $94 million into the region's economy, since most labor and materials are expected to be purchased locally.

The construction projects and the increased demand on local merchants and suppliers would add a total of 1,190 private sector jobs to the region.

But the boom comes with a price.

A total of 22,000 acres - home to 38,983 people in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake - will be added to areas where the Navy expects jet noise to reach 65 decibels or higher.

The high-noise zones also will include 23 schools - 22 at the Beach and one in Chesapeake. Some of these buildings may require expensive improvements, such as thicker windows and added insulation, to reduce the sound of jets in the classrooms.

Two other Beach schools - Brookwood and Plaza Elementary - fall within newly drawn accident potential zones, areas where off-base crashes are most likely.

Closer to the ground, the pinch will be felt by local school districts as they try to find desks for the 2,700 schoolchildren the military families would bring.

About 2,000 of those students are expected to attend Beach schools.

There are other environmental impacts.

Traffic congestion is likely to increase on the roads leading to Oceana, particularly Oceana Boulevard between Bells Road and Princess Anne Road.

Virginia Beach has planned a $50 million widening project for the road.

Another noticeable consequence would be the increase in noise.

If Oceana gets all 11 squadrons, the Hornets would double the amount of air traffic residents would see and hear. The total annual flights at Oceana would grow from 109,000 to 237,000.

That's still fewer than the base's peak in 1991, when jets based there flew 360,000 operations.

The Navy classifies an operation as a takeoff, a landing or a pattern - meaning that even the shortest, simplest flight beginning and ending at the base can constitute several operations.

Flights at Fentress would increase, from the current 105,000 to 158,000 annually, according to the report.

City staff members in Chesapeake were caught unaware of the Navy's report, saying they had little information on the impact in Chesapeake.

``We certainly welcome the enhancements of this military concentration,'' said Mayor William E. Ward. ``And we certainly welcome the families and jobs that will be created. However, we need to minimize the impact on the residents of Chesapeake and Virginia Beach.''

``This looks good indeed on paper,'' he added, ``but on the other hand, we have to be very careful about our support of the relocation and how it will affect the quality of life of our residents and their neighborhoods.''

Chesapeake Planner Brent R. Nielson said it appeared the expansion of flight and noise zones around Fentress would affect some residential subdivisions, mostly located around the intersection of Centerville Turnpike and Mount Pleasant Road.

The only Chesapeake school to be included in the new noise zone is Butts Road Intermediate on Mount Pleasant Road. School spokesman Tom Cupitt said it was unclear if there would be any ramifications, but added that the school was built using sound-deadening materials.

The new zones could also affect Chesapeake's comprehensive plan, a document currently being revised that guides how the land in the city should be used and developed.

Much of the land around Fentress is wetlands and undevelopable, Nielson said, so should not be affected by the changes.

Beach Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf and Chesapeake Mayor Ward spoke Thursday and agreed to have their staffs meet to discuss the Navy's report. No meeting date was set.

Beach officials said the city planned to hire a consultant to deal with changes in high-noise areas. This consultant also will be made available to help Chesapeake, Beach officals said.

Bob Matthias, assistant to the city manager in Virginia Beach, was relieved Thursday when he got to see the entire report. He discovered that the GTE Amphitheater and the city's Lake Ridge property fell well outside the high-noise zones.

The influx of newcomers should have a positive effect on residential real estate values, local realtors said.

Initially, most of the enlisted personnel will most likely rent, they said, allowing landlords, in the face of heightened demand, to increase their prices. But they will also bolster the home buying pool.

In 1993, Beach officials were stunned when Oceana was targeted as a candidate for closing in 1993. They set up a task force that worked with U.S. Rep. Owen B. Pickett to make sure the base was saved.

Without the new planes coming to Oceana, City Manager Spore said, ``the air station would quietly atrophy . . . and a long period of decline would set in.'' MEMO: Staff writers Mac Daniel, Michael Clark, Meredith Cohn, Tom Holden

and Earl Swift contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: U.S. NAVY COLOR PHOTO: F/A-18 Hornet color photo;

OTHER COLOR PHOTOS: STAFF/File

FOR TRANSPORTATION

FOR SCHOOLS

FOR NOISE

FOR BUSINESS

Graphics

CRASH ZONES AND NOISE ZONES

The Virginian-Pilot

WHAT IT MEANS TO LIVE IN A NOISE ZONE

OPERATIONS WILL INCREASE OVER 100%

WHAT IT MEANS TO LIVE IN A CRASH ZONE