DATE: Tuesday, September 16, 1997           TAG: 9709160254

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MIKE ABRAMS and NIA NGINA MEEKS, staff writer 

                                            LENGTH:   93 lines

MORE JETS MAY LIMIT CHURCH GROWTH ENLARGED CRASH ZONES COULD RESTRICT EXPANSION

Local ministers are beginning to process life in light of the possible expansion at Oceana Naval Air Station.

And some aren't thrilled about the idea.

Virginia Beach officials have yet to release a list of places that fall within the proposed crash zones. They plan to match Navy maps with their own via computer later this week.

But based on maps in the Navy's Environmental Impact Statement, released last week, at least six additional churches in Virginia Beach and three in Chesapeake apparently would be in or along the enlarged crash zones of Oceana and Fentress.

The Navy's proposal must be approved by the Environmental Protection Agency before expansion at Oceana can begin.

The idea behind the crash zone designation is to limit population density in ``accident potential zones.'' A crash zone designation would probably rule out church expansion plans.

That means the Rev. Noah Stoltzfus and his congregation at Landstown Community Church in Virginia Beach may not get the multipurpose center they want.

The church is in the middle of a long-range expansion program. Last year, the church received a permit to add an educational wing. That project is in the final stages.

Stoltzfus fell silent on the phone when he heard that his church would be in a crash zone. Three other congregations also worship in his building.

``We're running over 200 (worshipers) on Sunday,'' he said softly. ``We planned to do some alterations within the buildings to provide more . . . space for Sunday school. We were going to be in a building phase for the next 10 years.''

Day-care centers, mobile-home parks, hospitals, private schools, group homes and other outfits that operate under a conditional-use zoning permit also would experience growth restrictions.

The inability for some day-care operators to expand may increase the squeeze on infant and toddler care.

While the Navy's report estimates that 2,700 school-age children would move to the area along with the people to operate 180 additional jets, no one has estimated the number of incoming newborns.

Waiting lists are the norm for day care at naval installations, like many places. Military babies can comprise up to 60 percent of the children in care at some Beach facilities.

Some families are beginning to turn more to home-care facilities. Applications for local home-based day care are on the upswing, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Social Services said.

Establishments that have already presented long-term plans and won approval from the City Council need not worry, said Karen Lasley, operations coordinator for the city's planning department. Those facilities will be exempt, she said.

Should the Navy's plans go into effect - perhaps 18 months from now - the establishments that don't have expansion permits can still apply. But their plans may not be approved, Lasley said.

In the meantime, church leaders are left to contemplate a noisier - and perhaps more crowded - future.

``I don't look forward to more planes and more traffic,'' said Pastor Harold Bergey of Mount Pleasant Mennonite Church in Chesapeake.

The church, built in 1910, has long sat beneath Fentress Air Field flight patterns.

The congregation has a few military members, but Mennonites generally oppose armed forces. Bergey calls the fighter jets ``machines of destruction.''

Even so, if the expansion moves ahead, he said he'll try to view the changes as an opportunity.

``People are precious, valuable,'' he said. ``So certainly, as a church, if more people move to this area, we feel some responsibility to them - to reach out.''

That chance to reach out is an upside to Oceana expansion for Mark Scharfe, assistant pastor of the Virginia Beach Community Chapel.

That church, which sits in the proposed crash zone, hosts 600 to 700 weekly worshipers and has space for more.

Scharfe said the congregation has always enjoyed a good relationship with military personnel.

``It might give us the chance,'' he said, ``to minister to new people.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

LAWRENCE JACKSON/The Virginian-Pilot

With jets from Oceana Naval Air Station streaking overhead, the Rev.

Noah Stoltzfus and his congregation at Landstown Community Church in

Virginia Beach may not get the multipurpose center they want.

Graphic

Churches in or near Oceana Crash Zone

Churches in or near Fentress Station Crash Zone

For complete copy, see microfilm KEYWORDS: OCEANA NAVAL AIR STATION CRASH ZONE

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu