Firms Hurt by Tight Security at Seabee Base : Economy: Some restaurants dependent on military trade have seen lunchtime receipts drop by up to 50% since the Persian Gulf War began.
Many businesses bordering the Navy’s Seabee Center in Port Hueneme have become unexpected casualties of the Persian Gulf War, merchants say.
A key reason for a slowdown in local business activity is that hundreds of Navy personnel and civilian workers at the Naval Construction Battalion Center have stopped leaving the huge Seabee base during their lunch breaks to eat and shop in the city, the merchants report.
Some restaurants on normally busy Channel Islands Boulevard, which borders the north side of the base, complain that their crucial lunchtime trade is off as much as 50% since the war broke out Jan. 16.
Business owners say tightened rules and resulting delays at security gates make it virtually impossible for base personnel who leave at lunchtime to get back to work on time. The new regulations have been imposed as a precaution against terrorists, a Navy spokeswoman said.
Richard Rose, manager of the Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet on Channel Islands Boulevard, said that after the start of the war “people found out that if they bought lunch from us, they’d have to eat in their cars while waiting to get back into the base.”
Rose said that until mid-January his store did at least $300 in business every day between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. “Now we’re doing $200 if we’re lucky,” he said.
Complicating matters for base personnel wishing to patronize the merchants, two of the Seabee facility’s four gates--at Channel Islands Boulevard and Patterson Road and at Ventura and Bard roads--have been closed until further notice for security reasons. And a third gate--at Ventura Road and Sunkist Street--now closes every evening at 8.
Debbie Head, owner of Giggles, a small restaurant at 844 N. Ventura Road, near the base’s eastern boundary, said her business “actually died” the first two weeks after hostilities broke out. “It started coming back after that, but not completely,” she said.
Head said one of her customers heard that the Seabee center’s commander had issued a directive asking the base’s 5,000 civilian workers to stay on base during the workday. But Navy spokeswoman Jeanie Pelkey denied that such a directive had been issued.
Another spokeswoman, Connie Taylor, said security guards have been instructed to inspect all incoming packages for possible bombs. The guards are also conducting random searches of cars driven by civilians as well as Navy personnel, she added.
Security measures at the Seabee base have been especially tight since the embarrassing revelation that a group of civilians wearing Army uniforms gained entrance to the facility Feb. 2 and conducted a class in infantry tactics.
Among businesses being hit especially hard are those that deliver their wares. Domino’s Pizza drivers have been delayed at the base entrance so often that the company’s Port Hueneme outlet no longer offers the chain’s customary 30-minute delivery guarantee on the base.
“By the time the pizza gets to the customer, it’s cold,” said Bob Milstead, Domino’s Oxnard area supervisor. He said deliveries to dependents’ housing units on the base used to provide 30% of Domino’s business in Port Hueneme, but now account for only 5% to 7% of the volume.
“It’s even worse at Point Mugu,” Milstead said, referring to the Pacific Missile Test Center south of Port Hueneme. “They won’t let our drivers in there at all.”
According to the Navy, 11,300 people work or live at the Port Hueneme base. Of these, 5,300 are civilian workers, 4,300 are Navy personnel and 1,700 are Navy dependents living in base housing.
Pat Zanuzoski, executive manager of the Port Hueneme Chamber of Commerce, estimated that 2,000 residents have left the community for one reason or another since Iraq invaded Kuwait Aug. 2. The city’s population, estimated at 20,600, does not include residents of the base, which is not within city limits.
“The reduced population, the delays at the gates and the recession have combined to deal a blow to our members on Ventura Road and Channel Islands Boulevard,” she said. “These people depend totally on the base for their support.”
The Navy denies reports of an exodus among its 4,300 military personnel, saying the four Seabee battalions permanently stationed at the base are on their normal rotation of two overseas and two at home.
Both overseas units are now building bridges, airstrips and roads in Saudi Arabia, said Navy spokeswoman Marge Hays. Their normal seven-month deployment may be extended, she added, but no decision has been made.
Some Port Hueneme business operators are skeptical that the base’s population is at a normal level.
“There seem to be a lot fewer people around since Aug. 2,” said Dock Harper, owner of Harbor View Liquor & Wine. “Some families have left--I know that.”
Harper said his revenues are off 25% to 30% since Aug. 2. Since the nearby Patterson Road gate was closed in mid-January, he added, he has lost substantial business from base personnel who used to stop at his store on the way home after using the now-closed Patterson exit.
Martin Eckert, manager of the Denny’s Restaurant on Ventura Road, agreed with those who say the base’s population is down.
“A lot of guys are gone,” he said. “I notice it especially in our late-night business. Quite a few customers from the base normally cross the street to have something to eat after 10 p.m. That business is down at least 25%.”
