Quote:
Originally Posted by oldmanshirt
^^^All the same, if Ft. Sam were to close because some development forced a stupid endangered bird onto Camp Bullis, it would be a huge, huge blow, especially with all the money and jobs the Defense Dept is investing there. Losing AT&T would suddenly seem like losing Luby's, in comparison.
If the military is making a fuss, SA needs to listen, regardless of whether or not this should have been discussed decades ago (and make no mistake, it should have been discussed decades ago).
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Agreed.
The frustrating aspect is that the Dominion has been there for a long time now. Did the DOD not see this as an eventuality? And was there no way that they could have bought a 500' easement around Camp Bullis to protect the warbler habitat and limit encroachment onto their fenceline?
It seems like terrible foresight. If I were a developer who had long held such valuable land and now wished to build it out, I would be ticked.
From a legal/real estate background, I would think the optimal solution would be for the government to purchase perpetual easements on the land around their property (using eminent domain if they must) paying the landowners for the "highest and best use" possible for the land they are "taking". It would cost the DOD tens of millions of dollars, but it seems the only fair solution.
The benefit of the easement is that the land is still technically the developers and can be "released" back to the developer if Camp Bullis ever ceases to need the buffer. Also, the developer can retain some control over the land in utilizing it as a "green space" in meeting local regulations/ordinances within the scope of whatever development they might come up with.