Be Careful What You Wish For
Locals, especially local developers, look at the stretch of the barrier island [the East half is called Okaloosa Island, and the West, Santa Rosa Island] that is still occupied by the Air Force and lobby for it to be made available for development. They don’t think people will mind being microwaved by the various radars watching tests over the Gulf, or the low flying aircraft landing and taking off from Hurlburt Field, to be first people to see the hurricanes coming roaring in over the emerald green waters that are about to inundate their condo.
But there are other problems when the military turns over land for civilian use: Key West Landscapers Uncover 30 Unexploded World War II Mortar Shells. It’s amazing how you can forget where you left things when the terrain is altered by hurricanes, especially things that aircraft in trouble dump as they attempt to land.
4 comments
Ouch! How painful. Aren’t there movies made about stuff like that? Hmmmm good storyline.
There are a lot of unpleasant surprises on the Eglin Reservation, OWL EOD [Explosive Ordinance Disposal} has to scan an area before anyone who might dig gets busy. They have been testing weapons here since before WWII.
I remember when Florida congressman and local hero Bob Sikes stole the land that is now total development beachfront. Almost ALL the now condo development along the former open beach was to be held undeveloped as public land. Sikes slipped a bill into congress that gave his buddies the sole right to develop all that property. He was impeached and kicked out of congress, but the damage was done, the bill was law and you now see the result. Don’t let anymore public (Air Force) property be taken by developers. Their motto is ‘Best and highest use” but that term is defined to fit their self serving goals, not what may be best for the future generations or for the quality of life for those not rubbing elbows with the powerfull and corrupt. Check out what happened with Congressman Sikes, I’ll bet 90% of the current population of Okaloosa county don’t know the facts of how their land was taken.
R.L. Bob Sikes was a total piece of work. He had trucking interests, so the spur track down to the coast was never built. He owned land in Destin, so the Destin harbor was built. He lived in Crestview, so the county government stayed up there, instead of moving with the population to the coast.
Bob would have been a stellar Bush Republican, teaching the rest of them how to enrich themselves at the public trough.