Encroachment around Navy base causes concern

By Brock Vergakis
Apr 16, 2016

Earlier this year, the Navy warned Norfolk that a banquet hall seeking to open in Ocean View was in a part of the city where planes taking off from and landing at Norfolk Naval Station were most likely to crash if something went wrong.

The message was clear: Don’t let the hall open there.

The City Council scoffed, approved Elegant Occasions’ location anyway and drew the ire of a state official who is warning there could be major consequences.

The conflict is nothing new. Virginia Beach for decades approved housing developments and businesses over Navy objections that they were under the flight paths of fighter jets from Oceana Naval Air Station. From 1975 to mid-2004, the City Council ignored Navy pleas in nearly three out of every four votes.

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