DEFENSE DEPARTMENT CLEARS DEVELOPMENT.

Byline: Staff and Wire Services

GORMAN - A top Defense Department official has concluded that new housing developments proposed at Tejon Ranch will not interfere with low-level training and test flights or jeopardize the nation's military readiness.

Navy Rear Adm. J.L. Betancourt said a military analysis allayed his concerns that the master plan development of Centennial, east of Interstate 5 just south of the Kern County line, would prevent Navy, Marine and Air Force flights over the Tehachapi Mountains.

Federal regulations prohibit military flights lower than 1,000 feet over cities.

``I believe we have come to a mutual understanding that the existence of Defense Department Military Training Routes over Tejon Ranch Co. development should not preclude your planning efforts,'' Betancourt, writing on behalf of military services in California, said in a letter to company executives.

In 2003, Betancourt asked then Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger to stop the development or move it away from flight routes.

The military's objections were dropped after the company indicated that it planned to develop only a small portion of the sprawling 270,000-acre ranch along Interstate 5 in Kern and Los Angeles counties, executives said. Both sides agreed there was enough room for training flights.

``After we had a series of meetings showing the admiral and his staff all of our plans, it became clear that there wasn't a compatibility problem,'' said Robert Stine, president of Tejon Ranch. ``Now we really consider this issue resolved.''

Betancourt said the military will keep its flight corridors but suggested the paths could be adjusted to accommodate urban development if necessary.

Development plans include a huge warehouse project south of Bakersfield, a mountain resort of about 4,000 homes in Kern County, and 23,000 homes and 14 million square feet of commercial space in Centennial in Los Angeles County.

Centennial is proposed on 12,000 acres below a number of military air routes linking naval stations and test ranges at Lemoore, Point Mugu, China Lake and El Centro, a Marine base at Miramar and Edwards Air Force Base.

Among the military flight paths is one just south of Centennial's boundaries that is traveled by low-flying cruise missiles fired by Navy ships and submarines off the California coast, aviation maps show.

Accompanied by planes whose crews can take control of them, the missiles use the corridor to reach targets at China Lake Naval Weapons Center and in Nevada, records show. The Centennial project is now before Los Angeles County planners. Neighbors and opponents including the Sierra Club have complained that the project is out of place in the rural area, and will further clog Interstate 5 with commuters heading to jobs in the Santa Clarita Valley and elsewhere.