CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The city of Corpus Christi is working to protect Cabaniss Field from what is considered to be incompatible land development.
The air field is used by the Navy as part of their pilot training program. The city will now be in control of some 52 acres.
"When you are coming and going from NAS Corpus Christi, the takeoff and landing portion delays the standing landing pattern. So you cannot come back here to do all the landing work that you need to do," said Capt. Jeremy Rifas, who is the deputy commander at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi.
Rifas said the three local landing fields, Cabaniss, Waldron and Goliad are important to pilot training. Corpus Christi City Council took action this week to protect Cabaniss Field from any incompatible land development so that naval operations can continue safely.
"What we're doing is establishing what's called a clear zone. So it protects the neighbors on there and just space at the end of the runways," said District 2 Councilmember Greg Smith.
The restrictive use easement will secure a more than 52 acre site not owned or controlled by the Navy. The city would be responsible for enforcing the restrictions. Rifas adds that the action taken this week at Cabaniss Field is to protect citizens.
"We need the field to keep people out of harms way. They do not want those businesses or other entities within that area that could be considered the crucial portion of flight," he said.
Smith says the city knows how important the base is to the area and the state.
"They're always looking for reasons to close military installations down because they're expensive. So the more that this community does the more likely we won't be down in some future BRAC." (Base Realignment and Closure)
According to the Texas Military Preparedness Commission, Naval Air Station Corpus Christi and the Corpus Christi Army Depot have a $4.6 Billion annual impact on the Texas economy.
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