Once upon a time there was a town that wanted to grow. It had lots to offer the folks who came to live there, and wanted to take advantage of the open spaces all around. At the time, there were people who drove noisy vehicles, but they assured the town's leaders that the noise from these vehicles wouldn't reach the new homes as the town grew. So the leaders set about planning for the homes that one day would be filled with happy residents.

As the years went by, and the leaders continued to plan for these new dwellings, the people who drove the noisy vehicles bought some even noisier vehicles. Uh-oh, they thought, we'd better tell the town's leaders, and see if they can change their plans.

OK, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that the "town" is Lemoore, and the people with the "noisy vehicles" are Lemoore Naval Air Station.

The City of Lemoore wants to grow westward; LNAS suggests a different approach, thereby avoiding further residential growth under the flight path.

Last week, debate that so far had consumed four separate meetings -- and nearly 16 hours of public hearings -- came to a close. The outcome is that the Lemoore Planning Commission's recommendation to the city force developers, land-owners, the city, as well as the naval base, to settle for less than they had hoped for.

Here's the dilemma: Landowners and developers want the plan to stay as proposed, saying that their private property rights should be protected.

If Lemoore goes ahead with the general plan, it could risk unwanted urban encroachment in the base buffer zone, potentially costing future expansion of Navy operations in Lemoore that contributes $300 million a year to the local economy.

If the city rejects the plan completely, it could expose itself to liability from developers who have already been given approval to build houses there and landowners who have invested millions of dollars in the area for city-led improvements.

The Navy is offering to help the city secure federal money to take part in a joint land use study for the area, a process that has been used by other military communities like Marysville and Beaufort, S.C.

We hope the City of Lemoore waits for the Navy's new noise study, anticipated in November, and takes it up on its offer, before putting the general plan to rest.

Now's the time for all parties to come to the table and come up with a plan that makes sense for Lemoore.

(April 22, 2008)