LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. –
The City of Hampton and Langley Air Force Base will be hosting a citizen outreach presentation regarding the on-going multi-jurisdictional Joint Land Use Study Sept. 22 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Hampton Convention Center.
The intent is to inform the citizens in the cities of Hampton, Newport News, Yorktown and Poquoson about the JLUS.
The JLUS is conducted in a collaborative manner involving all stakeholders, including the local elected officials, planning commissioners, local military base command staff, community business leaders, chambers of commerce, homebuilders, real estate interests and affected residents.
According to Bruce Sturk, Hampton Federal Facilities Support director, managing urban encroachment on the Langley installation has always been a priority for the base and the City of Hampton.
However, with the recent deployment of the F-22A Raptor to Langley and encroachment problems impacting the future of Naval Air Station Oceana in Norfolk, surrounding communities agree that a JLUS is critically important to preserving long-term land use compatibility between the Air Force base and the local governments.
Studies like the JLUS help to better protect the health, safety and welfare of surrounding communities as well as the civilian and military community at the base. Langley and surrounding cities are collaborating on compatible land use, while ensuring the continued presence of the military in the region.
Through joint, cooperative military and community planning, future growth conflicts can be anticipated, identified and prevented. These actions can help protect the installations military mission, and the public health, safety, quality of life and community economic stability.
The intent is to negate any possible impact on Langley's operational effectiveness, training and readiness mission, and formalize processes and procedures that will be instrumental in future developmental activities in the surrounding localities.