I feel bad for Tricord et al. But when the Army says no, elected officials tend to take a second look:
Ken Perrotte, A.P. Hill’s spokesman, said in an interview yesterday that the Army is building an Urban Warfare Center on the base, a mere stone’s throw from the New Post site.
‘That’s going to become one of the most widely used facilities at Fort A.P. Hill,’ he said. ‘It’s going to be combat in cities–with small-arms firing and light demolition charges and, at times, intensive aviation activities involving everything from air lifters to light aircraft to helicopters of various shapes and sizes.’
The resulting noise, Perrotte suggested, might lead residents to call for scaling back training exercise on the base, which, in turn, would make A.P. Hill less efficient. Such a situation, he argued, would breed ‘unhappy campers’ on both sides.
A.P. Hill is right from a military standpoint, but New Post is the way to go when it comes to development, and I seriously doubt that A.P. Hill will close anytime soon thanks to BRAC. If New Post is willing to live with the noise, then let ’em build!