Navy, Army at Odds Over Housing Proposal
A Navy proposal to build housing for sailors at the Los Alamitos Armed Forces Reserve Center has put the Navy at odds with the Army, which has its own plans for the land.
The center is owned by the Army and operated by the California National Guard. But the Navy wants to build up to 300 homes there to help ease the shortage of affordable housing for enlisted personnel at Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station and Long Beach Naval Station.
The Navy plans to build 900 homes for those workers by the mid 1990s. Three hundred of those units are under construction near San Pedro, and the Navy is looking for sites for the other 600 homes.
Capt. Walter Heinecke, commander of Long Beach Naval Station, said the Navy has about 2,000 housing units for enlisted personnel in six areas of Los Angeles and Orange counties, but those units meet only 20% to 25% of the Navy’s housing needs, he said. The rest of the enlisted personnel generally cannot afford to live near the Long Beach and Seal Beach facilities, he said.
“What happens is, people don’t come here because they can’t afford the housing, so the family separates, and that affects morale,” he said. He acknowledged that some spouses have civilian jobs and are able to afford to rent in the area.
Since 1982, the Navy has been considering a 45-acre parcel at the Los Alamitos center. But the Army plans to build on the parcel a flight simulator and a headquarters building where about 2,200 Army reservists will train and store weapons and equipment.
Army spokesman John Chapla said that having housing on that parcel would interfere with the center’s role as the center of earthquake relief operations for Southern California. As an alternative, the Army has suggested that the Navy look at three small areas of land on the base as possible sites for their housing, Chapla said.
The parcels are at the southeast and northwest corners of the center and inside an 8-acre field near the center’s front gate, said Brig. Gen. Daniel Hernandez, commander of the Los Alamitos Reserve Center.
Hernandez said they are the only parcels of land that are outside a margin of safety needed for air operations on two runways at Los Alamitos Air Station, which is within the Los Alamitos Armed Forces Reserve Center.
Concerns Raised
The proposal has also raised some concerns in the cities of Los Alamitos and Seal Beach, which border the center. Officials from both cities sent letters to the Navy last month, saying they would like to be kept informed on the project.
The Department of Defense forbids construction of anything not related to air operations within 4,500 feet of either side of the runways, Hernandez said. In addition, the station is required to maintain 3,000-by-3,000-foot clear areas at the ends of the runways, he said. “That’s really a lot of ground,” he said.
The Navy is compiling an “environmental assessment” of a number of areas they are considering for housing, including Los Alamitos. Robert Urich, director of the Navy’s western housing division, said the report, which contains an evaluation of possible changes in traffic patterns caused by housing construction, will be available to the public in Seal Beach and Los Alamitos.
A final proposal will be sent to Heinecke for concurrence, Urich said. But Navy officials emphatically say that they will not attempt to build any housing at the Los Alamitos base without Army approval.
“We would not force our way in there. We couldn’t, we wouldn’t, we can’t,” Heinecke said. “If we don’t (get Army approval), we’re just going to have to go looking elsewhere.”
Needs Allocation
The plan would also require a $20-million to $30-million allocation from Congress, said Assistant Secretary of the Navy Keith Eastin, who recently toured the Los Alamitos base with Hernandez.
Eastin said he expects Congress to allocate money for the Los Alamitos project in its next budget. Noting that Congress often rescinds funds that are not put to use during the fiscal year for which they are designated, he said he hoped a site is picked in time to start construction by fall.
Eastin said the homes could include duplexes or townhouses, as well as single-family homes. He said the Navy hoped to start construction on a third tract to join the first two at San Pedro and Los Alamitos at an undesignated site sometime during the early 1990s.
Meanwhile, officials from both cities said they are taking a wait-and-see attitude until a plan is presented to them. “We’re open to hearing and finding out about it before we take a position,” said Michael Brotemarkle, Los Alamitos community development director.
