Your Thoughts On Basing F-35 Jets In South Burlington (Colchester: appointed, condo)

[68vette]

Originally Posted by joe moving

I was on my way to BTV the other day and an F16 took off. I thought I drove over a shopping cart and was dragging it down the street!!! Crazy! I bet the F35 will not be louder.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone knows where you can find out about the homes that BTV is selling for relocation?

Are you talking about the homes the airport has been purchasing from area residents? If so, they are supposed to start tearing them down shortly.

[joe moving]

yeah, I thought they were trying to sell them first...but I wasn't sure where they were listed.

[vter]

Nope..they are not selling them. They will all be torn down.

[68vette]

VSP allowed the homes to be used by six surrounding states police/swat departments to do training a few months ago and they are to be torn down in the near future. The last report I read in June or July was they want the homes gone ASAP, because they are having to pay to maintain curb appeal (mowing lawns cleaning yards of leaves and trash). One of the articles explained how people were bringing trailers full of trash and construction debris, and just dumping them in the back yards of some of the empty homes.

[joe moving]

I read somewhere they went through and remediated any asbestos and you could buy the homes for almost nothing, if you were willing to move them.

[68vette]

Originally Posted by joe moving

I read somewhere they went through and remediated any asbestos and you could buy the homes for almost nothing, if you were willing to move them.

I heard the same information, but that was a year or two ago. The issue is people in the neighborhoods are complaining about the homes now. Many were trashed by the different police trainings that took place, people using the homes to dump trash, kids or whoever breaking in and destroying the interiors and people ripping out copper pipes and wire. I'm not sure if you have seen some of the homes. They are very easy to pick out. Many of them are dumps. Most have not been lived in or kept up for several years. I don't know if they are giving them away or not at this point. I drive by the area several times per week. It doesn't look like any of the homes have been moved out.

[FrugalYankee]

Vermont made the very top of the front page of the Sunday Boston Globe with a story about the F-35s to be based in Burlington.

Selection of Vermont Guard base for F-35 jets was based on flawed data, raising questions of political influence - Politics - The Boston Globe

The article seems full of grumbling about the use of political influence to get this plum (really? you guys don't have that concept of political power in Boston, now do you. ) and concerns about noise for the poor Burlington residents.

Gee if there was going to be so much griping, why not put the thing in southern Vermont where we don't have the population density and people would welcome the boost to the economy?

[VTMonzstarr]

Residents of the Greater Chittenden County Area want those F-35's here...majority speaking. It seems all the opposition comes from S.Burlington Residents, specifically those living in the direct vicinity of the airport. JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!!!!.

[Hatless Wonder]

Could it be that South Burlington residents living near the airport oppose the F35 because it will actually affect their home values and way of life? It's easy to support a project like the F35 when your life won't be affected. Why do you think the head of the Green Ribbon Gang lives in Essex Junction?

I lived walking-distance from the airport for 3 years. I've also lived near an Air Force base and Logan Airport. I have no problem with jet noise. Yet I'm against basing the F35s in Burlington because it will lead to even more housing destruction.

Housing in Burlington is expensive. One advantage of Chamberlin, the neighborhood surrounding the airport, is reasonably-priced housing. They're cozy and packed close together, but they're laid out well, and a lot of families live there. My first Halloween, we gave out 120 pieces of candy in an hour.

The FAA has already declared 400 homes "incompatible with residential use" due to noise from the airport. The plan has been knock the houses down and build a barrier, but that hasn't happened. The empty homes are being left to rot, attracting vandals, vagrants, drug dealers, and homeless people. My home was just outside the 65 dB zone. When you consider the high cost of housing in the area, the many abandoned homes across the road were an outrage.

The F35 will be significantly louder than the F16, which means a bigger 65 dB zone, which means more housing destroyed. The houses remaining won't be eligible for FHA or VA financing, so good luck trying to sell. According to the latest version of the Air Force's Environmental Impact Statement, the noise footprint will affect 7,000 people in S. Burlington, Winooski, and Williston. Where will they all go? Is it worth impacting 7,000 people for less than 1,000 jobs?

I have friends near New London, CT. Ten years ago, Pfizer convinced the city to condemn a bunch of homes near the waterfront so they could build a new plant. The Powers That Be in New London insisted that the neighborhood had to be sacrificed because "Pfizer says it will being jobs!" It led to a huge battle over eminent domain that reached the Supreme Court .In the end, the houses were knocked down, and Pfizer changed its mind about the plant. New London has a big hole on the waterfront, and a lot of bad feelings. The city still lives and dies by Electric Boat and the Coast Guard Academy (Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun are great for the tribes that run them, but haven't helped the area at all). I have a big problem with the "jobs at all cost" mantra.

Two years ago, the South Burlington City Council adopted interim zoning, to slow down what some felt was out-of-control development, in favor of community preservation. Between the F35 and the destruction of 3 homes on Dorset St. for Trader Joe's (and I like Trader Joe's), I have to wonder what all the fuss was about. If the F35s noise footprint covered the million-dollar homes in the Southwest Corridor, the idea would have been shot down instantly. Does community preservation only apply to rich communities?

[Logs and Dogs]

While I believe freedom has a price and perhaps this is it, I spent yesterday climbing Mansfield and between the jets and the Ethan Allen range it sounded like a war zone......was happy to leave actually.

As for the F 35, it isn't like the F 15s now are quiet or anything.......