AZARNG Military Compatibility Areas
For this JLUS, the term Military Compatibility Area (MCA) is used to identify a geographic
area where AZARNG operations may impact local communities, and conversely, where
local activities may affect the AZARNG’s ability to carry out its missions. An MCA is
described as the area in which the combined effects of different military operations and /
or activities occur, or could occur, and represents the spatial extent of an installation’s
impacts in a given region. The individual “footprints” of specific mission operations,
including associated noise, traffic, safety hazards, and air, water, and land use, etc., are
all considered when developing an MCA. The MCA constitutes a planning tool for
promoting awareness of military activities in surrounding communities, establishing
compatible development requirements and standards in designated areas, and
ultimately, for maintaining operational capability. If military missions change in the
future and any of the MCAs or operational areas are identified for additional future uses,
such as increased activity or training times, the AZARNG should notify the relevant
communities within and around the MCAs so that they can update their coordination
procedures and have the right information to make future planning decisions.
The recommended strategies within the MCAs are designed to accomplish the following:
Protect public health, safety, and welfare.
Promote an orderly transition between community and military activities so that
land uses remain compatible.
Maintain operational capabilities of AZARNG sites and training areas.
Promote an awareness of the size and scope of military activities to protect
areas outside the AZARNG site boundaries (e.g., flight training areas) used for
mission operations.
Inform the local community of compatibility recommendations within the
designated areas that are part of this JLUS.
The AZARNG MCAs are used to define the geographic areas where certain JLUS strategies
are to be applied. This technique ensures the strategies are applied to the appropriate
areas, and that locations deemed not subject to a specific compatibility issue are not
adversely impacted by strategies inappropriate for their location or circumstance. These
AZARNG MCAs are recommended under Strategy LU‐1A later in this chapter.
Each AZARNG site has a unique set of MCAs based on the missions and activities that
occur there. The MCAs are described on the following pages and are presented in order
of AZARNG site starting in the north and moving south by site. Each AZARNG site has an
associated Military Compatibility Area Overlay District (MCAOD) that illustrates the total
footprint for all MCAs for that site combined.
Pinal County Joint Land Use Study
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