HERRIMAN — The neighborhood critics who assert Camp Williams should relocate in light of a devastating fire underscore a report by the National Governor's Association that says urban encroachment is the No. 1 threat to the future of military installations across the country.
An estimated 80 percent of those installations are facing urban growth higher than the national average, according to the report, and only a handful of states are embracing strategies to counter the problem.
Even as Camp Williams, its neighboring communities and Salt Lake and Utah counties embark on a planning process to formulate compatible land uses, such measures have been formalized for more than a decade with its neighbor to the north — Hill Air Force Base.
Portions of "accident potential zones" lie within Hill's property boundaries and others extend beyond into neighboring communities.
Zone 1 is a clear zone on the base's north and south boundaries adjacent to Weber County's community of Riverdale and Davis County's Layton. Both are in the flight path for takeoffs and landings of the base's stable of jet fighters and supporting aircraft.
Development of any kind is restricted, said Harry Briesmaster, director of the base's 75th Civil Engineering Group.
Such zones have to be free of any structures and it's only in Zone 2 — which extends farther — that limited development can occur in tandem with planning that goes in with surrounding communities.
"Take-offs and landings are the most critical stage for aircraft, and those areas have been identified as most vulnerable" for potential accidents, Briesmaster said.
The National Guard's Col. Scott Olson said Camp Williams has worked cooperatively with communities and the counties over the years to strike a balance between landowners' interests and the future of the installation. But some decisions are out of the military's hands.
"We would never try to impact what the private landowner does, but when we're asked about what we do on our property and if there is a potential for conflicting interests, absolutely that becomes part of the discussion," Olson said.
While there are similar buffer zones on Camp William's northern boundary much like Hill's, the same is not true on the south side, where some Eagle Mountain residents' have property that abuts the training facility.
A joint land use study that will be undertaken by a consultant hopes to solve some of the tensions that have arisen, and Olson says he's optimistic it will resolve some issues.
"We don't want people to be afraid to live near us, but at the same time they should live there knowing it is an active military training center," he said.
Much of the development that came on the doorstep of Camp Williams was in the boom years of the 1990s, when Eagle Mountain was a fledgling city. Mayor Heather Jackson said it was a time when the city turned to others for its planning needs.
"We didn't have a city planner, we didn't have a city administrator," Jackson said. "We were relying on consultants and developers to come up with good plans for the city."
Despite criticism by some neighbors, Jackson has stressed that none of the government entities are pursuing any plan that would call for Camp Williams to relocate, recognizing that its 93-year history has fostered an esteemed military tradition coupled with economic benefit.
Hill's neighboring communities, too, have stepped up to safeguard the future of the base, said Jerry Stevenson, who served as mayor of Layton for 12 years and is now a state senator.
"The city has been careful about what we would allow to be developed" nearby, Stevenson said. "We've been fairly protective of the mission of the base."
Stevenson said over the years he's visited cities that once hosted military installations that have since had to close because of urban encroachment. Other installations have had to invest millions in new infrastructure to counter the impacts of urban sprawl.
"In one city, they had to build a bridge over a highway to get the aircraft from one side of the base to the other," Stevenson said. "It shortens the future life of an air base or any base because you do not have access to the growth required."
To that end, Stevenson was among a group of community and business leaders who in the form of the Utah Defense Alliance lobbied the state Legislature for funds to purchase easements of the property over the flight path of the base.
Although it was a 10-year effort, the state was able to invest at the outset $10 million to purchase what are called "avigation easements" that would limit development designed to decrease the odds of catastrophe.
"We recognized what was happening, that bases were being shut down because they were losing easements up against the runways."
Olson said such an approach has not been taken on behalf of Camp Williams, nor have they been able to purchase more property.
Some states, in looking to safeguard the interests of their military installations, are pursuing similar strategies like easement purchases, but Stevenson warned that as more and more development goes in, it's tougher to go back in time and protect than to fight against what has yet to come.
"With building and competitive uses — to purchase an easement at some point becomes not reasonable anymore."
Contributing: John Hollenhorst
e-mail: amyjoi@desnews.com