by KYW's Brad Segall
News that Pennsylvania is pulling the plug on a plan to own and operate the Willow Grove Naval Air Station in Horsham is coming as good news to some local officials in the area.
Many in Horsham feared that the state plan would have opened the door for an increase in air traffic in the immediate area.
Now that the state is pulling out, citing a lack of support from the federal government (see previous story), state representative Rick Taylor (D-Montgomery County, right) says he will start lobbying the feds to let the people who live in and around the area decide what would be the best use for the nearly 1,200 acres of land on which the airfield sits:
"What I would like to see is the BRAC [Base Realignment And Closing] Commission continue to follow through, and the Horsham Land Reuse Authority take possession to dispose of the land and use it for a positive economic benefit.”
Taylor says he’s a little surprised by Governor Ed Rendell’s decision, but says it really comes down to economics. And with the continued downturn in the economy, he says, it was unfair to put the burden of operating the base on the backs of the state’s taxpayers.
(File photos)
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