A new lawsuit has been filed by homeowners that claim that the expansion of the Navy training on Whidbey Island constitutes a “taking” of their property because it has made their home unlivable. These are folks who knowingly bought in the flight path, before the Navy decided to expand the program.
Whidbey Island residents sue over expansion of Navy training flights
When Marge Plecki and her husband built their retirement home on Whidbey Island in 2002, they were aware the Navy conducted training flights at a small airstrip nearby. The noise was bearable, though, and she planned around it by running errands or doing other chores while the jets roared. That changed dramatically in March, when the number of EA-18G Growlers in the skies vastly increased. The noise has sent Plecki and more than three dozen other residents of Whidbey Island’s Admiral’s Cove neighborhood to court, filing a lawsuit that seeks compensation for what they say is their inability to use their property. The neighborhood is a small enclave less than one mile from the end of the landing strip, just beneath the final approach and take-off path for the jets. Gene Johnson reports. (Associated Press)