BY LUZ LAZO

Times-Dispatch Staff Writer

PRINCE GEORGE -- Brenda Schraner doesn't want a jet landing field near her Prince George County home.

The Navy is considering the three sites in Virginia -- in Surry County, Sussex County or Southampton County -- and two in North Carolina for a practice field for F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet jets from Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach.

Surry and Sussex border Prince George. Southampton is only one county away. Last week the Prince George Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution opposing plans to place the field in any of the three Virginia counties.

Schraner agreed with the board.

"I am not anti-Navy . . . but I think they can choose a better site," she said today during an open house about the Navy's plans

Schraner, who lives near Prince George's boundary with Surry, said she is worried about the noise, the devaluation of real estate in the area, and the impact on the environment a landing field might bring.

The proposed Surry site is near the Prince George line, and noise from the Navy's fighter jets would be heard in a big portion of the county.

Virgil Turner, who with his parents and brother own a 270-acre farm off Lebanon Road in Prince George, said he, too, is concerned about the jet noise and the effect on his horses and other animals. If the Navy picks the Surry site, he is worried it may mean he and his family will have to move.

"We live in our own little world. We all work on the farm and we like to live together," he said.

Navy officials have been looking for years for a site suitable for a practice field, said Ted Brown, a Navy spokesman.

Brown said the process for picking a site is in the early stages. Today's open house and other open houses are being held so Navy officials, pilots, and experts get a chance to listen to and talk with residents one-on-one about the project, the sites, and the need for the landing field.

Brown said that in choosing a site, the Navy considers the distance between the site and Oceana Naval Air Station and the Norfolk Naval Station and takes into consideration the effect on landowners and the environment.

Brown said that once the landing field is built it will bring its locality $4.2 million in annual revenue and about 62 civilian jobs.

About 250 people had attended today's open house by 8:20 p.m.

Contact Luz Lazo at llazo@timesdispatch.com