SILVER STRAND : Activists to Discuss Navy Flyover Plan

A group of activists lobbying against a Navy plan to fly jets toward Silver Strand Beach as close as 100 feet from the surface will hold a meeting today to discuss what they see as broken promises by the Navy.

The Beacon, the group of beach residents, is upset that several concessions that the Navy had promised to lessen the impact of its flyover plan were removed from the proposal that was submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration for approval.

The Navy is trying to obtain a special airspace permit from the FAA to fly Lear jets at speeds of up to 375 m.p.h. toward a ship-simulation laboratory at Silver Strand. Under the plan, the jets would dart toward the five-story laboratory to simulate missile strikes on a warship.

Many of the 6,000 residents of Silver Strand and adjacent Hollywood Beach have complained that the simulations will endanger their lives, lower their property values and subject them to unpleasant noise levels.

The Navy has argued that the testing must occur at Silver Strand because the $100-million building is a huge investment, and that the fragile equipment it contains would cost too much to move.

Navy officials said they would modify their proposal to ensure that jets would never come closer than a mile from shore, and would never fly late in the evening or early in the morning.

But both concessions have been omitted from the proposal before the FAA, along with several others, and members of the Beacon group are upset.

The meeting is set to begin at 9 a.m. at Hollywood Beach School. For information, call 382-2556.