City Submits Grant Application to Protect Cabaniss Field from Encroachment

Future Development Could Threaten Flight Training Operations

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX – At today’s regularly scheduled City Council meeting, Mayor Paulette M. Guajardo and the City Council approved submitting a grant application to the Texas Military Preparedness Commission’s Defense Economic Adjustment Assistance Grant (DEAAG) program to protect Cabaniss Field from encroachment.  

The DEAAG grant application is for $800,000, which the City will match for a total project value of $1.6 million.

The project would fund the acquisition of a restricted use easement in a runway Clear Zone to protect flight training operations at Cabaniss Field, a Navy Outlying Field (NOLF) for Naval Air Station Corpus Christi (NASCC).

The restrictive use easement would secure a 51.85-acre site to prevent incompatible land development, which could threaten the future of military flight training operations at the only multi-engine primary flight training field in the entire U.S. Navy. The easement property is the only remaining property in the Clear Zone not owned or controlled by the U.S. Navy. The City would hold title to the easement and be responsible for enforcing the terms of the easement.

The City has used its land-use regulations and partnered with the Navy to acquire Clear Zone and APZ properties to ensure the future of NASCC and training fields like NOLF Cabaniss continue to produce the best-trained, most skilled aviators to allow this nation to remain strong.

“The City of Corpus Christi is proud to host NASCC in our community and is committed to protecting its mission,” Mayor Paulette M. Guajardo said. “In the last 5-8 years, the city has partnered with the State of Texas to fund over $11.5 million in infrastructure improvement and encroachment protection projects. We are honored to continue that financial support through this long and endearing partnership with NASCC.”

The project is an important part of the continuing partnership between the City and the Navy to protect Clear Zones and Accident Potential Zones (APZ) identified by Air Installation Compatibility Use Zone (AICUZ) studies from encroachments by residential, commercial, or other incompatible developments.

According to the Texas Military Preparedness Commission, the combined missions of Naval Air Station Corpus Christi and the Corpus Christi Army Depot (CCAD) have a $4.6 billion annual impact on the Texas economy.

The City would like to thank the South Texas Military Task Force for their assistance to advocate for this grant and for the work the Task Force does to protect our military missions in South Texas.  

For information on NASCC and CCAD:

Texas Military Preparedness Commission - Naval Air Station Corpus Christi 2020

Texas Military Preparedness Commission - Corpus Christi Army Depot 2020

For more information, media representatives can contact Public Information Manager Robert Gonzales at 361-826-3233 or email at robertg8@cctexas.com.