JEKYLL LOBBYISTS VISIT TO SAY 'THANKS'
April 5
ATLANTA - They didn't cut the traditional lobbyist profile in their sandals, T-shirts and hats. In fact, the members of the Initiative to Protect Jekyll Island that visited the state Capitol during its final day Friday looked more like vacationers.
''We're here for a beach-in good time,'' said Dory Ingram, a volunteer lobbyist for the organization. They passed out hats, pins and shirts to lawmakers who had helped them in legislative battles over the future of the state park, which the Jekyll Island Authority is trying to revitalize by overhauling its tourist infrastructure.
But the trip was more than just a thank-you visit. ''We're letting them know we're not going away,'' said Martin McConaughy of Tucker. Not going away despite the announcement Wednesday that the authority and its private development partner, Linger Longer Communities, would back away from earlier proposals to build condominiums and hotels on the shoreline of a popular open beach on the Atlantic side of the island. It was the second victory for island residents and visitors in as many years. They previously won legislative protections for the south end of Jekyll. The members of the initiative that visited Friday, though, were concerned about where those hotels and condominiums might go now that the shoreline is off limits. They worry that the development could cut inland, toward the island's maritime forest and some wetlands. ''We know that it's not over,'' said Babs McDonald of Athens. ''This is one step on a long road.''
Critics of the authority and Linger Longer say they don't want to capsize the revitalization of the island. Almost everyone believes that creaky hotels and other sagging parts of the park's tourist infrastructure need to be revamped. ''I'm not anti-revitalization, but I believe that we can do the revitalization in such a way that everybody wins - the people of Georgia win, the environment wins and the Jekyll Island Authority wins,'' McDonald said.
Eric Garvey, a spokesman for the authority, said there's no reason for concern about plans for the island's future. ''It should be obvious that we're not going to do anything that's going to mess up the environment that people come here to enjoy,'' Garvey said. It's too early to tell how the beach project will be shaped, Garvey said. It's not clear where the Environmental Conservation Center that will be a part of the park will be located or what will happen to a crumbling asphalt parking lot that Linger Longer planned to replace and residents want upgraded.
The scope of the new plans will probably be laid out in more detail after the authority and Linger Longer formally sign a contract outlining everyone's responsibility as the revitalization moves forward, Garvey said. But the plans might call for some areas that are currently untouched to be developed, Garvey said, though much of the island's natural land is protected by state law. ''We would love to keep everything on that same footprint but we also want to create the best plan possible for revitalization,'' he said. brandon.larrabee@morris.com, (678) 977-3709
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/040508/geo_265223353.shtml
Published on SavannahNow.com (http://savannahnow.com)
A middle way
By Savannah Morning News
Created 2008-03-25 23:30
THE GEORGIA House Rules Committee should give state representatives more choices in Jekyll Island revitalization plans.
To date, GOP leaders in the General Assembly have favored the $352 million development proposed by Linger Longer, which would install 1,100 hotel rooms and condos on 63 acres - taking up the last stretch of open beach easily accessible to Georgia residents on the state-owned island.
When the House Rules Committee meets Thursday morning, it has the power to send amended Senate Bill 367 to the floor for a full House vote. Failure to do so would be to ignore those who want the state park to maintain its unique, tranquil atmosphere.
As amended by Rep. Debbie Buckner, SB 367 bans major construction on Jekyll's signature open beach area.
Rep. Buckner, D-Junction City, likens Linger Longer's current development plan to killing the goose that laid the golden egg. That may be too harsh. Still, Jekyll's unobstructed beach view is a major draw for visitors who prefer a seaside experience that does not include a wall of condos between them and the dunes, the beach and the ocean.
Rep. Buckner's plan instead steers revitalization back to the development company's original plan: Tearing down the outdated convention center and building a new development from that point south and west toward the interior of the island.
This alternative could have a much smaller impact on the island. While it does not limit the size of a new development, the original footprint was only 24 acres.
The amendment is similar to House Bill 1289, also sponsored by Ms. Buckner, which died in committee - as did the Senate version sponsored by Sen. Jeff Chapman, R-Brunswick.
Make no mistake, Jekyll Island does need rejuvenation.
Existing hotels, in business for decades, have been ragged around the edges for years. However, the ongoing political debate must recognize that several of those hotels are currently under renovation. Competitive pressure should push the rest of Jekyll Island's hotels to do the same.
Allowing a floor vote on SB 367 would give representatives three options: Voting down both the 24-acre and the 63-acre plan in favor of current hotel renovations; backing Rep. Buckner's scaled down plan; or voting in favor for Linger Longer's city center plan with beachside hotel rooms and condos.
SB 367 gives representatives a "middle way" choice between a major impact on Jekyll's pristine beach area and relying solely on market pressure for renovation at existing hotels.
This, in turn, could facilitate a compromise that brings needed tourism infrastructure to Jekyll and maintains the serenity of a state park known for its sun, sand and waves - not to mention a view of the coast that's getting harder to come by each passing year.
Jekyll design in constant flux
Wed, Apr 9, 2008By ANNA FERGUSON
The Brunswick News
Linger Longer Communities is changing its plan for the Jekyll Island waterfront, but don't ask it where it will put anything now.
It's still in the process of deciding how its proposed $342 million development will fit into the state-owned island.
A change of plans became necessary after the company announced last week that the development it's proposing for the state park will no longer swallow the parking lot north of the Jekyll Island Convention Center.
The half-mile section of open beach will be left for public use.
Originally, the portion of land was slated to be the hub of visitor activity, housing the Beach Village portion of the plan. Lodging, retail spaces, a nature center and cottages had been designated for the town center space.
Linger Longer changed its mind about the parking lot following public outcry over preserving the section of open beach.
Now, it is eyeing the area for a possible putt putt golf course, playground and greenspace, said Jim Langford, Linger Longer's executive director of the Jekyll Island project.
"The design is in constant flux, but we have key points that we know will be included," said Langford.
Building condominiums and cottages for part-time residences on the island also remains a topic of debate. Langford could not comment on whether part-time residences will still be included in new designs but noted that plans will be announced in coming weeks.
The Jekyll Island Authority wasn't surprised when Linger Longer announced the new route the developers will take, said Eric Garvey, spokesman for the authority.
"We knew Linger Longer's original plan was only a concept plan," Garvey said. "It was only a starting point. We are very excited about what they have in the works."
From the beginning, Linger Longer's concept plan had received a stream of questions and negative feedback regarding building on the half-mile beach.
"Even our own staff had questions," Garvey said. "But that was a main reason we went with a private partner, so we could have experts. We trust their expertise."
Columbus Ledger
Sunday, April 13, 2008 8:58 AM
Jekyll spared -- at least for now
Rep. Debbie Buckner, D-Junction City, whose district includes east Columbus, pulled off a slick move in the March Madness of the Georgia General Assembly. And Georgians, including especially those all the way across the state, should be cheering her for it.
What Buckner did was tack an amendment onto a bill during a House Natural Resources hearing to provide protection from commercial development for most of Georgia's shoreline. It was a long-shot move for a member of the minority party, but it made it out of committee by a 9-8 vote.
What the amendment did -- at least for the time being -- was preserve the natural and historic integrity of Jekyll Island.
Last week an Atlanta group that had been moving forward, with the blessing of the state-run Jekyll Island Authority, with a $352 million hotel, condo and other commercial development plan reportedly backed off, saying it will instead opt for a public park and conservation center.
Readers might well remember Buckner's eloquent plea for Jekyll preservation, published March 16 in these pages. In that essay the lawmaker declared, "What I cannot support is shameless and ruinous exploitation that puts profits over the recreation needs of our hard-working families."
She was as good as her word.
By no means did Debbie Buckner keep the bulldozers off Jekyll Island single-handed, as she would be among the first to acknowledge. It has been a bipartisan effort; Sen. Jeff Chapman, R-Brunswick, whose district includes Jekyll, has been a staunch opponent of commercial development there, and sponsored Senate legislation to restrict it.
And of course, overwhelming public opposition to the idea cannot be discounted -- not this time. Voters' voices sometimes can be heard, especially in an election year.
The moment is worth celebrating, but nobody should believe the battle to project Jekyll, or Georgia's other barrier islands, or for that matter any precious natural resource, is won and done. The drive to cash in on popular destinations never relents, and balancing maximum access, legitimate private profit and natural conservation is tricky.
"Slippery slope" arguments are of variable validity. Putting "In God We Trust" on coins hasn't plunged us into a fundamentalist theocracy, and laws against inciting riots have thus far posed no serious threat to the First Amendment.
But if there's an area where the slope is almost always slippery, it's at every scenic intersection of preservation and profit. Take a good, long look at Jekyll Island, then at any of the hundreds of overdeveloped coastal communities around the U.S.
This should never have been a close call. It won't be the last.
-- Dusty Nix, for the editorial board
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Published on SavannahNow.com (http://savannahnow.com)
Kyler: Jekyll project still falls short
By Savannah Morning News
Created 2008-04-11 23:30
There are vastly differing views on the changes made by the Jekyll Island Authority and Linger Longer Communities in a major development project reported and commented on recently in the Savannah Morning News.
The so-called concession to keep the "town center" project out of the Shore Protection Act jurisdiction is certainly welcome, but hardly magnanimous - nor evidently all that it first appeared to be.
Most agree that Jekyll's revitalization is needed. But there are fundamental disputes about what constitutes responsible revitalization versus ill-conceived over-development, no matter how profitable it may be.
Two distinct points must be made. First, by keeping the condos out of the state shoreline jurisdiction, project proponents will be avoiding costly delays caused by permit application, review, and the probable appeal of any forthcoming permit by public-interest groups.
LLC's substitute proposal to build an environmental interpretive center, a miniature golf course, and a playground in the shore protection area is less objectionable than condos, but it remains uncertain how those activities would conform with beach access, the public's highest priority for using the site.
Second, let it be clear that the bulk of the massive LLC development project will likely be altered very little, just moved westward, out of the shore protection area. Essential questions about the justification for thousands of additional rooms in private condos, time-share units, and still more hotel space remain unanswered.
It is remarkable that the "town center" proposal is often portrayed as being essential to Jekyll's redevelopment, yet there are already projects underway in hotel replacement that will more than double the park's current thousand-room capacity.
To the contrary, the town center project is primarily not redevelopment at all, but new development that threatens the relaxing atmosphere that is the hallmark of the treasured Jekyll Island State Park experience.
By moving the most controversial features of the project, the condos, out of the shorefront area north of the convention center while retaining the town center's large scale, more damage to environmentally important maritime forest and wetlands to the west is very likely.
This pristine land is designated as a "nature preserve" in the JIA's 1996 Master Plan and is the home of a unique ecosystem which contributes substantially to species diversity within the park's interior.
Before any part of this project moves ahead, the public deserves a long overdue explanation by the Jekyll Island Authority justifying the need for it. Such an analysis should be based in part on project impacts on natural resources, especially in light of the languishing "conservation plan," which remains unadopted after being drafted more than two years ago, and an island master plan that made no recommendation for development on the scale being proposed.
Better yet, the JIA should reconsider its obligations to the public and establish a transparent, adaptive planning process that includes broad stakeholder involvement. Proposals for future development of the island, within the established limit of 35 percent of its land area, should then be required to be consistent with a comprehensive analysis produced in that open planning effort.
With proper guidance, the Jekyll redevelopment effort could become a national model of success, demonstrating a strong conservation and sustainability ethic worth emulating.
Unfortunately, realizing such an inspiring legacy is being prevented by the JIA's aversion to transparency, objective use of environmental and capacity criteria and meaningful public involvement.
David Kyler is executive director of the Center for a Sustainable Coast, a non-profit environmentalist group that has offices on St. Simons Island and in Savannah.
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From Creative Loafing
April2, 2008
Annual Arnie Awards
Named for Ellis Arnall, Georgia's reformist governor of the '30s and '40s, the Arnies recognize lawmakers and other state leaders who held back just a bit of the buffoonery perpetrated on the public during the General Assembly session.
The Save Jekyll vs. Hiding An Agenda Award
By Thomas Wheatley and Scott Henry
Sen. Jeff Chapman, R-Brunswick, and Rep. Debbie Buckner, D-Junction City: If you want to find a politician who caters to his constituents more than corporate campaign coffers, look no further than Chapman. The soft-spoken man from the coast fought tooth-and-nail to get a hearing for three bills aimed at protecting Jekyll Island from a massive development, only to watch them die in a hearing held in a basement room the size of a shoebox. He was accused by opponents of grandstanding – unfair flack from those who'd rather satisfy politically influential developers than preserve the idyllic state park for ordinary Georgians. After Buckner's similar bill met a similar fate, she gallantly tagged an amendment onto a Senate shoreline protection bill that would keep the public beach accessible to residents. Although Buckner managed to push her amendment out of committee, it seemed unlikely to work its way through a gauntlet of special interest opposition.
4/14/08
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