Oceana’s future is still unclear

by Lisa Antonelli Bacon
for Virginia Business
May 2006

The fate of Oceana Naval Air Station has been swinging on a string since last August, when the federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) announced that the area around the base had to change. A list of demands had to be met by March 31 or the Navy’s fighter jets would leave Virginia, taking with them the city’s largest employer and 12,000 jobs. The demands were strong, but the language vague, leaving a worried populace to wonder if rolling back development around the base meant condemning or purchasing the more than 3,000 homes and businesses that were already established when the Navy redrew the lines of its crash zones in 1998.

Local officials met the deadline with a proposal they say will satisfy federal demands with minimum impact on residents and area businesses. “BRAC gave us Mission Impossible,” says Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf.
For nine months leading up to the deadline, city planners, financial officers and attorneys struggled to develop the plan. Befuddled by vagaries (such as “reverse” in development, and “incompatible” land use) laid out by the federal government, they weren’t sure what would satisfy the demands.

Then the city passed an ordinance that, officials believe, will carry the day. Under the plan, Virginia Beach would condemn only buildings and homes whose owners request it. “We are willing to condemn and purchase from willing owners,” says Oberndorf, “but we’re not going to force anyone to leave.” City administrators have fielded hundreds of calls from homeowners and businesses who might be willing to relocate as well as those who are determined to stay.

Still, the city isn’t sure if the plan meets the government’s desires. Yet, Oberndorf says Virginia Beach is confident that it has successfully addressed safety concerns. “We’re trying very hard to know specifically what we’re dealing with and how we can [craft a plan] most responsibly. We believe we have complied.”

The outcome still is far from predictable. The inspector general for the Department of Defense has until June 1 to decide if Virginia Beach and Chesapeake have met BRAC’s demands to safeguard pilot training.