Jekyll Island GA: Just how much more do developers need?

Do you remember that place you loved to visit? Maybe it was the beach where you first saw the ocean. Or the shores of a dark blue lake where you hiked for hours then relaxed in a bare little A-frame cabin. Or a tiny mountain town where you could ski all day without waiting in mile-long lift lines then hit a local bar for cheap beer.

And now that place has been taken over- by condos, fancy hotels and time-shares. The shop that sold charming and sometimes mystifying souvenirs has been obliterated by store after store selling the same ten t-shirts with the same ten slogans. And the place where you got ice-cream after a long day of sun has been booted by Starbucks.

Do you remember that place? For me, it's Jekyll Island, Georgia. Developers are almost there. Due to a groundswell of opposition, critically important legislation has been introduced to protect the state park from inappropriate development. But can ordinary people win against the big money of developers in this country?

Brief background:

Jekyll is a state-owned barrier island off the coast of Georgia long sought by developers. The Jekyll Island Authority was created in 1950 to manage the park and keep Jekyll self-sustaining. By law, only 35% of the island may be developed. There are oceanfront and non-oceanfront hotels, an oceanfront development consisting of condos and somewhere around 600 private homes plus businesses and a convention center. Last year the JIA issued an RFP and awarded Linger Longer Communities the right to be the "private partner" in managing and developing the park, much to the surprise of many state residents and park visitors. Illustrations on their site demonstrate what most people fear- a development that turns Jekyll into something that resembles a resort rather than a state park. To get an even better idea of what we're talking about, take a look at before and after pictures.

Developers vs. the public: will legislation get heard?

The headline grabbing fight is over the JIA-approved LLC proposal to put a beach village/town center that would line Jekyll's most popular beach with hundreds of condos, times shares and three hotels.

LLC and the JIA always start with these arguments: island visitation has dropped 47% (an inflated figure) and they need the "beach village" concept to attract more people to therefore pay for day to day operations.

Usually left out of their talking points: how much the JIA actually needs to run the island; how much the private developer expects to profit from the beach village/town center project; and the 5 other beachfront properties in various stages of complete redevelopment (three with locked agreements, one in litigation and one with a lease requirement to replace its hotel in a few years).

Senator Jeff Chapman has introduced 3 bills (SB 426, 427, and 428) with the purpose of protecting the beach from development.

His bills are stuck in committee. Chip Pearson, chairman of the Senate Economic Development Committee wants to ask the JIA "whether the proposals would harm attempts to revitalize the park." Hmmm.  Wonder what they're going to say, especially considering that the chairman of the JIA, Ben Porter, is a developer by trade- and a good friend of the developer-friendly Governor. Call Sen. Pearson (404-656-5030) and ask him to give the Chapman bills a hearing. Another good person to call is Lt. Gov Casey Cagle.

(For additional people to call and a more complete explanation of Chapman's bills, please read this earlier diary.)

Another bill has been introduced by Rep. Buckner in the General assembly. It's actually  been granted a public hearing but curiously, no vote has been scheduled. Rep. Terry Barnard, chairman of the State Institutions and Property Committee, can change that. Give him a call at (404-656-5138).

UPDATED: The latest is that the bills will be scheduled a hearing but without a full committee vote in both the House and Senate. Lt. Gov Cagle (404-656-5030) and Rep. Barnard (404-656-5138) are the main ones to call. Ask that the bills receive a full committee vote.

LLC and the JIA argue that the bills would kill "any serious attempt at revitalization." But it doesn't stop any redevelopment on existing beachfront properties. It also doesn't restrict new development from taking place west of Beach View Road, as long as it doesn't encroach on previously protected areas- like marshland. The current LLC plan wouldn't fly since it hinges on the development being on restricted area and includes hundreds of new condos, which wouldn't be allowed.

BTW, when you look at the maps, you'll see the Beach View Road. LLC spokesman Jim Langford says that "pushing new development west of Beach View Drive could put pressure on wetlands, the Historic District and similar key assets... There are a number of things west of Beach View that I think should be avoided," but seems to have no problem moving the road back so they can cram more condos and hotels between it and the beach. And cutting into the maritime forest to do it.

LLC, owned by Mercer and Jamie Reynolds (more good friends of the Governor) has been trying, along with the JIA, to get the bills killed. One reason might be that despite saying they are open to public input on the proposal and are revising it, they've been shopping it around already.

Langford also had this to say:

Much of the resistance to the developers' proposals comes from residents who don't want to see the island revitalized and who, in fact, would like to keep the island from becoming a key tourist attraction again, Langford said.

"They really don't want more Georgians to come to Jekyll, and that's not the Jekyll Island that Jekyll was meant to be," he said.

That's a flat-out lie. But then, what do you expect from the developer's spokesman?

The LLC "overall vision for a comprehensive investment strategy," as presented in 2007, " would include six primary elements," only one of which is the "new coastal Village with a commercial Village center." The other ideas involve "consolidating and reorganizing developed areas," "restoring and expanding the historic settlement to create additional amenities, public education opportunities and visitor accommodations," "redeveloping the water park into an environmentally responsive attraction including additional recreation components," and "expanding the existing marina."

LLC also has been involved with existing properties on the island, most notably as one of the parties in litigation over the former Georgia Coast Inn. The Village Center is just a foot in the door. After all, they themselves say, "Our approach presented in the master plan for the Village is part of a much larger strategy and management plan that responds to the Authority’s request for a long term, island-wide vision of a public private partnership."

If the bills before the house and the senate don't get heard, the island will forever be changed. Fancy hotels and hundreds of condos. The same tacky t-shirts shops. The same tall skim latte.

How much more do developers need? As much as we let them get.