| Taking a look at Cecil Field |
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| Thursday, 02 November 2006 | |
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We're not going to tell you which way to vote or take an official position, but we will present you with visual information that hasn't been fully covered by the local media, Better Westside and Vote Jacksonville.
CECIL FIELD / WEST SIDE PHOTO TOUR
The numbers shown on this recent Cecil Field aerial, show the exact location of the next 19 pictures.
1. Normandy Blvd, traveling towards Cecil, just west of Chaffee Road.
2. 103rd Street, heading east, towards Chaffee Road and directly north of the airport runways.
CECIL FIELD (EXISTING COMMERCE CENTER OPERATED BY JAA)
4. Flightstar Aircraft Services, the commerce center’s largest employer with over 400 employees, relocated from JIA to Cecil in 2005.
6. Boeing's Aerospace Support Center at Cecil. Boeing recently announced plans to lay off up to 60 of the facility's 220 workers, due to work on the Navy's E-6 contract scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. Also, in July 2006, the Mayor’s office announced that a joint venture, which includes Boeing, had selected Cecil as the site of its proposed military jet assembly plant, employing up to 200 workers, if they win the contract to build the C-27J Spartan plane. The winning bid is expected to be announced in 2007.
7. FCCJ’s Aviation Center of Excellence is housed in a 30,600sf hanger left over from the commerce center’s days as a major master jet base.
8. Northrop Grumman leases space out of this old naval warehouse building.
If the commerce center remains and is fully developed as originally planned, both commercial and military flight operations with increase.
9. Cecil Pines, a 92 unit senior home development, was created from left over base housing.
ARGYLE / OAKLEAF
11. Excluding bridges at interchanges, the Branan-Field Chaffee Expressway has already been constructed between 103rd Street and Argyle Forest Blvd. The final segment between Argyle Forest and I-10 is funded and construction will begin in 2007.
12. Dawson’s Creek, still under development, is the closest residential project being constructed near the airport. The $300,000 homes here are pretty large and give you much more per square foot compared to similar sized homes in other areas of towns not located near airports.
This recent aerial shows the section of Dawson's Creek (left) closest to Cecil's east runways. similar sized homes in other areas of towns not located near airports. Dawsons Creek is another example of the city approving incompatible residential uses within Cecil's current crash zones. To two developments shown here, have been allowed to proceed, despite the ongoing discussion now at hand.
13. The area around Cecil Field is still primarily rural, however poor planning has allowed for spot residential development. This is a photograph of the small country road leading up to the Dawson's Creek subdivision.
OAKLEAF PLANTATION
14. Oakleaf Plantation Parkway is the major road through the Oakleaf DRI.
15. The westside of the Oakleaf DRI is still heavily undeveloped. However, over the last year or two, several "Tinseltown / Gate Parkway" type condo developments and a few gated single family home subdivisions have sprouted up.
16. Another condo development off Oakleaf Plantation Parkway.
17. This Publix is located on the Duval County side of Oakleaf at Old Middleburg Road and Argyle Forest Parkway. The Oakleaf Town Center, a 850,000sf shopping center, anchored by a Super Target, is now under construction across the street.
18. The heavily developed section of Oakleaf Plantation, lies east of Chaffee Road in Clay County.
19. Oakleaf's homes range from cookie cutter starter ups to massive custom built homes.
CECIL COMMERCE CENTER
Much has been made about the large amount of land set aside for high skilled manufacturing jobs at the commerce center. However, the land plan for the industrial park shows, much of the property has been set aside for various uses leaving limited space for manufacturing areas (shown in purple) and mega plant sites for high skill, high wage manufacturing jobs. In a perfect world low wage warehouse facilities, such as the Walmart being courted by the JEDC would be directed to several private industrial parks, such as Westside, West Lake or Imeson. This would leave the best large scale spots at Cecil available for major projects that are to large to go anywhere else in town. If you take a close look at the commerce center land use plan, a 5th runway is proposed between the existing airport and the westside, eventually pushing flights directly over developments like Oakleaf and Dawsons Creek. If anything needs to improve, its planning, between the Jacksonville and Clay Counties.
This recent AICUZ contour map, shown in the Florida Times Union, shows military high level noise zones extending as I-295. However, it differs significantly from the official military AICUZ map presented to the city and Oceana's flight patters. One reason for the difference could be because commerce center advocates attempted to estimate the sound impact of super hornets.
This is the official military AICUZ chart for Cecil Field.
NAS OCEANA AND VIRGINIA BEACH Nearly a third of the city’s 439,467 residents now live in jet-noise zones that the Navy considers incompatible for housing developments. Many are in homes where roaring Navy jets drown out TVs and disrupt backyard barbecues. Over the years, despite Navy protests, Virginia Beach has continued to allow incompatible residential development to move closer and closer to the NAS Oceana's runways.
NAS Oceana figures:
9,247 = Number of Active Duty Personnel Assigned
2,547 = Number of Civilians Employed
$773 million = Total Annual Payroll (equals out to an average of $65,542 per person) 19 = Number of Squadrons Assigned (8 Tomcat; 11 Hornet)
252 = Total Number of Aircraft Assigned
NAS Oceana Dam Neck Annex: 3,661 = Number of Active Duty Personnel Assigned
1,368 = Number of Civilians Employed
$344 million = Total Annual Payroll (equals out to an average of $68,403 per person) www.vbgov.com/city_hall/hot_topics/0,1215,16833,00.html www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/oceana.htm
LOCAL HIGH SKILLED COMPANIES DOING BUSINESS IN VIRGINIA BEACH BECAUSE OF OCEANA INCLUDE:
AMERICAN SYSTEMS ENGINEERING - 2300 employees
systems engineering services associated with command and control systems, sensor systems, intelligence and surveillance systems, telecommunications systems, combat and weapon systems, and other types of associated electronic, electromechanical, and mechanical platforms/systems. MILCOM SYSTEMS CORPORATION - 800 employees MILCOM Systems helps the military communicate. In addition to providing technical communications systems, it offers engineering, consulting, and information technology (IT) services, and helps to design and build air traffic control systems. The company also manufactures custom-made computer workstations and metal furniture at its fabrication facility in Chesapeake, Virginia.
AMSEC LLC
AMSEC is a limited liability company jointly owned by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and Northrop Grumman. With 4,600 employees nationwide and overseas, AMSEC LLC is a full service supplier to the Navy and commercial maritime industry, providing naval architecture and marine engineering, combat and electronic systems engineering, naval ship systems assessments, maintenance engineering, acquisition program development, shipyard industrial engineering, and complete logistics services from technical manual development to provisioning documents, to spare parts management and training. DCS – 500 employees DCS is a local Defense contractor
VIRGINIA BEACH / NAS OCEANA AERIALS
This close up aerial illustrates the degree of residential encroachment at Oceana. People live basically right next door to the master jet base's four runways.
The Lynnhaven Mall, which opened in 1976 despite Navy protests, is a prime example of encroaching development near Oceana. According to Virginia Beach media outlets, Oceana jets have to bank into a hard 180-degree turn around the mall as they head for downwind landings at the jet base.
Nevertheless, business continues to boom at the shopping center. With a Macy's, Dillards, JCPenney, Barnes & Noble, and Dick's Sporting Goods as anchors, the center is home to 180 stores, 16 restaurants (including Johnny Rockets, Pizzeria UNO Chicago Grill & Carrabba's) and an 18-screen AMC theater. Its one of the largest shopping centers in the state of Virginia.
The mall can be clearly seen in this aerial, just west of NAS Oceana.
Good luck at the polls. Regardless of what position you take on this important issue, be sure to know whats on the table by fully researching the issue and weeding through all the propaganda flying around and on the TV screens.
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November 3, 2006, 8:16 am
Fair and Balanced
Well done. I'm voting "no".
December 2, 2006, 8:15 am
Comprehensive and Informative
Nicely done. I hope you leave this site up. Let me know if not, and I'll gladly host it.
November 19, 2008, 6:06 pm
Re: Taking a look at Cecil Field
Here's an older article I found dealing with Cecil Commerce Center and the possible return of the master jet base being we were discussing it in another article about Mayport getting another carrier. I find this little nugget about Oceana Master Jet Base in Virginia Beach interesting.
"Nearly a third of the city’s 439,467 residents now live in jet-noise zones that the Navy considers incompatible for housing developments"
I have a feeling Jacksonville, and especially people living around Cecil, might regret not allowing a naval master jet base, and the 30,000 people involved with it, back. Especially if the economy continues to worsen. Those local jobs and dollars are pretty much guarenteed and would have tremendously helped our local economy in these tough times.
November 20, 2008, 5:54 am
Re: Taking a look at Cecil Field
"Nearly a third of the city’s 439,467 residents now live in jet-noise zones that the Navy considers incompatible for housing developments"
I have a feeling Jacksonville, and especially people living around Cecil, might regret not allowing a naval master jet base, and the 30,000 people involved with it, back. Especially if the economy continues to worsen. Those local jobs and dollars are pretty much guarenteed and would have tremendously helped our local economy in these tough times.
Boy do I disagree with this statement. I have a home on the westside and I bought my a father in law a home closer to cecil than I am, so I guess I have a vested interest. The closing of Cecil Field was a MAJOR error by the DOD, prior to closing the field they did have empty hangars, but there was almost no encrochment by development. In fact I can remember some very vigourous arguments between the city council and groups that wanted to build in the crash zones. The city council was always supportive of the Navy. But by the time the vote came around that had all changed. The base had been dismantled, there was nothing there other than the hangars, which by the way had been upgraded by private money. All the supporting structure had been destroyed, the enlisted housing was demolished, no commisary, no hospital. My objection was since we had a major dod drawdown, there had to be a better base to locate too. Payton improper proposal as to how much development had grown around cecil implied a intent to decieve, that helped the westside to organize an effective group to oppose the reopening. There will be no UPS or FEDEX hub at cecil, but there could be an effective overhaul refit and manufacture facility there that will draw no objections to the locals. We aren't talking about 14 squadorns of f-18e/f's operating 18 hours a day. Anyone that worked at the old Cecil field can attest how noisy 7 to 9 in the morning was
November 20, 2008, 7:24 am
Re: Taking a look at Cecil Field
How do we know that there will never be a chance for an air freight hub at Cecil? Given our location, projected port growth and the fact that it does have 12,000ft runways, it could be a possibility at some point in the future.
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