Posts Tagged ‘encroachment’

Arizona voters on Tuesday passed a ballot measure that should benefit the state’s military bases by offering the State Land Department an alternative to selling or leasing land near installations. Proposition 119 will allow the land agency to swap state lands near bases to another public agency — primarily the federal government — for property farther away. The new authority is expected to help preserve Fort Huachuca, which has 500,000 acres of state land within its electronic testing range, and the auxiliary airfields used by Luke Air Force Base …

The Army’s sustainability efforts over the previous two years were highlighted by a number of new initiatives, including the Net Zero program, the Energy Initiatives Task Force, the Senior Energy and Sustainability Council and the Army Sustainability Campaign Plan. On Wednesday, the Army released its 105-page Army Sustainability Report 2012, which features details on those initiatives along with a wealth of data showing the service’s progress in meeting its sustainability goals during 2010 and 2011 in the areas of services and infrastructure, readiness, materiel and human capital …

A strategic plan released this week by the Florida Defense Support Task Force recommends a multitude of goals the state should strive to achieve, including addressing encroachment, supporting DOD’s efforts to conserve energy and shift energy use toward renewable sources, improving transportation access, and strengthening its support for military families and veterans. The 991-page report, produced by the Spectrum Group, was launched last year to help the state cope with potential consolidation and realignment actions stemming from the Pentagon’s need to help reduce the federal deficit …

Santa Rosa County commissioners on Thursday approved a study recommending the county amend its land development code and make other changes designed to protect Eglin Air Force Base from encroachment. The Eglin AFB Small Area Studies — a joint venture of Okaloosa, Walton and Santa Rosa counties and Eglin — recommends Santa Rosa create a new overlay zone surrounding the base and enact height restrictions throughout the zone …

Officials in the South Carolina Lowcountry are launching a transfer-of-development-rights program to stem new construction bordering Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort. The initiative will allow land owners inside the base’s air installation compatible use zone, or AICUZ — a buffer around the airfield — to sell the rights to develop their property further …

Community leaders from Colorado Springs returned from their annual trip to Washington, D.C., with a better understanding of the key threats the region faces as it strives to preserve the region’s military presence. “We’ve been told the Air Force wants to close and realign bases. That could be a problem,” one local businessman told the Colorado Springs Business Journal …

The town of Ledyard, Conn., on Wednesday approved the purchase of 20 acres of property adjacent to Naval Submarine Base New London in an effort to protect the installation in a future BRAC round. The town received a $167,500 grant from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development for the purchase to expand the size of the buffer around the submarine base, reported the Day. The state and the town will maintain the tract as open space. “Anything that we can do to make the base a little less subject to being closed is a good thing,” said Ledyard resident and former mayor Fred Allyn.

Arizona residents will vote next month on a measure that would provide the Arizona State Land Department an alternative to selling or leasing land that could threaten the mission of a military installation if it were developed. Proposition 119 would allow the agency to exchange state lands near bases to another public agency for property that is not near an installation. The trades largely would be with the federal government, reports the Arizona Republic. The measure would greatly benefit several of the state’s military installations. Luke Air Force Base is bordered by state lands on the south, and its auxiliary field is located on state trust land. Fort Huachuca has 500,000 acres of state land within its electronic testing range, the newspaper reported.

Business leaders in Hampton Roads, Va., are mounting a campaign for the commonwealth of Virginia to provide $6 million over two years to enlarge the clear zone surrounding Langley Air Force Base. The city of Hampton has said it would match the funds, which would be used to purchase up to 20 sites on the western border of the installation. Purchasing the properties is a top goal in the Virginia Peninsula Chamber’s effort to protect Langley from a future downsizing or closure …

Supervisors for King George County on Wednesday informally agreed to move ahead with a joint land use study for Naval Support Facility Dahlgren on Virginia’s Northern Neck, after hearing from a Navy commander why an assessment of the impact of future growth around the facility is needed. In short, ensuring that plans for residential or commercial development are compatible with the mission of the Naval Surface Warfare Center at Dahlgren is valuable for the Navy and the community …