The City of Killeen recently awarded a professional services contract to Benchmark CMR, Inc. to conduct the Fort Hood Joing Land Use Study (JLUS). This action was based on a request from Fort Hood to the Department of the Army in 2014 and subsequent approval by the Offi ce of Economic Adjustment (OEA), Department of Defense in the spring of 2015.
A JLUS is a strategic plan that results in specifi c recommendations intended to ensure civilian growth and development are compatible with operations, training, testing and power projection missions at military installations. The JLUS process promotes and
enhances civilian and military communication and collaboration, serves as a catalyst to sustain the military mission, and promotes public health, safety, quality of life and economic viability of a region.
Historically, military installations were located in remote areas, due largely to the availability of land and for security purposes. Over time, installations drew both people and businesses closer to take advantage of civilian job opportunities off ered by the installation and to provide the goods and services to support the installation’s operations. The increased number of people and businesses, in some cases, has impacted the military’s ability to effectively train and accomplish the military mission. As a result, the need for the JLUS program has greatly increased during the past decade, and to date, state or local jurisdictions have completed 93 JLUS projects. An additional 70 are currently underway including the Fort Hood JLUS.
OEA manages the federal grants that allow communities to conduct a JLUS. OEA provides 90% of funding with the sponsor city, in this case the City of Killeen, providing the remaining 10% through either cash contribution, payment-in-kind, or a combination thereof. The Fort Hood JLUS began in November 2015 and will be completed by December 2016.
The JLUS eff ort can directly benefit both the region and Fort Hood by:
- Protecting the health and safety of residents living or working near Fort Hood.
- Preserving long-term land use compatibility between Fort Hood and the surrounding communities.
- Promoting comprehensive community planning for all communities around Fort Hood.
- Integrating the local communities’ comprehensive plans with Fort Hood’s.
Two key components of the JLUS are compatibility and encroachment and it is important to understand how each applies to a JLUS. Compatibility is defined by the DoD Instruction (DoDI) 3030.3, Joint Land Use Study Program, as “land use and civilian
development activity that adversely affects the utility or training and readiness missions of a military installation.” Examples include:
- Air, land, space and noise restrictions
- Property rights
- Urban growth
- Comprehensive plans
- Zoning and overlay districts
- Subdivisions and site plans
- Electronic spectrum encroachment
- Land acquisition/lease
- Energy compatibility and availability
- Endangered species/habitat
- Air/water quality
Encroachment is defined in DoDI 3200.15, Sustainment of Ranges and Operating Areas, as “external influences threatening or constraining range and operating area activities required for force readiness and weapons research development testing and evaluation.” Examples of the impacts of encroachment are:
• Reduces range access, realism or usage
• Prohibits operational, training and testing events
• Endangers animal species or critical habitat
• Limits new technologies
• Restricts fl ight altitudes
• Inhibits new tactics development
• Reduces live-fi re profi ciency
• Complicates night and all weather operations and training
• Increases costs, risks or personnel tempo
• Unexploded ordnance
Benchmark CMR Inc., will capture the results of the Fort Hood JLUS in a written report. The report will outline recommendations intended to facilitate collaborative and compatible land development and planning activities between communities in central Texas and Fort Hood. Communities will also be encouraged to leverage the JLUS to facilitate regional partnership and to update strategic plans that promote and protect public health, safety and welfare.
Written by Kendall Cox, Heart of Texas Defense Alliance (HOTDA), & Stuart McLennan, City of Killeen
Published in the Greater Killeen Business Quarterly 2015 Economic Outlook & Fort Hood Guide