Travis AFB Sustainability Study Report Final Sustainability Study Report | Page 54
Implementation Plan Guidelines Military Compatibility Areas
The key to a successful plan is balancing the different needs of all involved
stakeholders. To produce a balanced plan, several guidelines were used as
the basis for strategy development. These guidelines included: In compatibility planning, the generic term “Military Compatibility Area”
(MCA) is used to formally designate a geographic area where military
operations may impact local communities, and conversely, where local
activities may affect the military’s ability to carry out its mission(s). An MCA
is designated to accomplish the following:
Recommended strategies must not result in a taking of property value
as defined by state law.
In some cases, the recommended strategies can only be implemented
with new enabling legislation.
To ensure focused effects and to minimize unintended broader
consequences, many of the strategies are only recommended within
the certain geographic area for which the issue they address occurs
(e.g. within the noise contours), instead of recommended for the
whole TSS Study Area.
Similar to other planning processes that include numerous
stakeholders, the challenge is to create a solution or strategy that
meets the needs of all parties. In lieu of eliminating strategies that do
not have 100 percent buy‐in from all stakeholders, it was determined
that the solution / strategy may result in the creation of multiple
strategies that address the same issue but tailored to individual
circumstances.
Since this TSS is meant to be a “living document”, and state and
federal regulations are subject to change, before implementing one of
the suggested strategies included in the Implementation Plan, the
implementing jurisdiction or party should ensure there is no conflict
between the strategy and any existing state or federal law.
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Promote an orderly transition between community and military land
uses so that land uses remain compatible.
Protect public health, safety, and welfare.
Maintain operational capabilities of military installations and areas.
Promote an awareness of the size and scope of military training areas
to protect areas separate from the actual military installation (e.g.,
critical air space) used for training purposes.
Establish compatibility requirements within the designated area, such
as requirements for sound attenuation or avigation easements.
The MCAs are used to define the geographic areas where the TSS strategies
are to be applied. This technique ensures the strategies are applied to the
appropriate areas, and that locations deemed not subject to a specific
compatibility issue are not adversely impacted by regulations inappropriate
for their location or circumstance.
These MCAs are recommended under Strategy COM‐3A.
The proposed Travis AFB Composite Military Compatibility Area is an area
that incorporates all the MCAs. Implementation of these overlays requires
jurisdictions to amend their zoning ordinances. The Composite MCA is
illustrated on Figure 8 and the individual MCAs are shown on Figures 9
through 13.
Recommendations