Dear Sun Editor:
R. Vitale asks opponents of commercial
freight at Moffett to consider thealternatives (August 7, 1996). That is
precisely what we are asking of cityand local government. Let us remember the
U.S. Navy decided to shut downthe Naval Air Station. NASA itself is moving all
of its own research aircraftout of Moffett. So what is NASA doing running a
"federal airfield?"It should stick to planning how to confirm
microfossil life on Mars. Thelocal citizenry, having done our share in
supporting decades of Navy operationsin support of our country's defense, are
entitled also to a peace dividendin compensation for the loss of the Navy.
Neither NASA or Lockheed-Martinrequires it (or they would pay for it) and I've
never heard anyone in theValley say they're not getting their overnight FedEx
on time. We do notdeserve to be subjected to nighttime cargo flights for FedEx,
no matterhow many times per year. It would establish a precedent for commercial
operationswhich would lead to the destruction of the quality of life in
Sunnyvale.
Possible alternatives abound and the region's needs for
space to accommodatethem are acute. Neither Hamilton A.F.B. nor Alemeda N.A.S.
were consideredas "airports forever." Fort Ord has a new state
university, housing,industrial and open space parkland to show for its
"defense reconversion."Surely the inventive minds of our region can
come up with myriad uses forthis valuable local land resource that will aid the
local economy many timesmore than Moffett Federal Airfield would ever do with
its "few hundredjobs".
I think that Vitale's vision of
Moffett as FedEx's "new hub for westcoast operations" would be a
horror to 95% of the citizens of Sunnyvale.Even the "scare
alternative" he holds out of civil aviation looksa lot more attractive to
the citizenry than 24-hour commercial jets. Afterall, for all the hoopla about
Reid-Hillview, there has never been a citizeninjury in the surrounding
communities. Sunnyvale has, fortunately, not builthousing right up to the end
of the runway as was done at Reid-Hillview.If you want to see hoopla from an
incensed citizenry, just wait until thecargo planes start coming over Sunnyvale
at 4:00 AM. How many times perweek do you think it is okay to be awakened at
that hour?
Sincerely,
Jeffrey M. Weiss
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