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FIGHTING FOR JEKYLL ISLAND
Jekyll Island has been called "the people's
park," "the poor man's retreat," and "everyman's
island," titles which are a tribute to Governor
Melvin Thompson's vision when, in 1947, he
arranged for the purchase of the island by the
state and for it to be set aside as a haven for
"the plain people of Georgia."
Mandated by law to be affordable for people
of average income, for over a half-century Jekyll
has functioned in accord with its founding de
sign, providing generations of Georgia families
with an affordable opportunity to experience the
wonders the island has to offer. Unfortunately,
families that have become accustomed to an af
fordable Jekyll may soon be in for a rude awaken
ing. The Jekyll Island Authority's (JIA) board of
directors—the island's governor-appointed ruling
body—is in the midst of an effort to redevelop
a number of Jekyll's aging hotels, the first step
in its plan to "revitalize" the island. Operating
on the premise that free market forces alone
should dictate room rates at the hotels to be
redeveloped, the board has orphaned Jekyll's af
fordability mandate, arguing, in effect, that the
need for developers to reap a handsome return
on their investment outweighs the need for the
majority of the island's lodgings to be affordable
for most Georgians.
ACCESSIBLE TO ALL?
When questioned on its redevelopment phi
losophy, board chairman and developer Ben
Porter has stated that the board is committed to
providing accommodations for all Georgians. Yet
that does not necessarily mean that the interests
of most Georgians will be well served.
Considering several board members' elitist
position that affordable accommodations (mean
ing less than $170 a
night) are ill-suited for
location on oceanfront
property, and given
the fact that seven of
Jekyll's nine hotels are
situated along the beach,
modestly-priced lodgings
on Jekyll Island may soon
be as rare as hen's teeth.
Take, for example, the
upcoming redevelopment
of the Buccaneer Resort
property by Trammell Crow
Company and partners.
Room rates at Trammell
Crow's 540-room hotel/
condo complex are slated
to average $250 per night in peak season—the
time of year when Georgians typically visit the
island—and $175 year-round: "moderate" rates
in the board's eyes, but hardly affordable foi
most Georgians.
Why has the JIA's board opted for an ap
proach to Jekyll's redevelopment so unfriendly
to mainstream citizens? One possible answer
rests with its failure to sample statewide public
opinion regarding the issues that attend Jekyll's
redevelopment. A mass of public input regarding
Jekyll's renovation has been given to the board
along with hundreds of pages of letters from
Jekyll's visitors and the statistical results of a
year-long development-oriented visitor survey,
none of which has been acknowledged and all of
which has been ignored. Why? Because the vast
majority of Jekyll's visitors are adamantly op
posed to the board's "revitalization" plan.
The board's revitalization plan, of course,
does not just concern the redevelopment of
Jekyll's oceanfront hotel properties: it also calls
for the construction of a 45-acre beach-side
"town square center" and opens the door for the
development of the 108 untouched acres within
the island's 35 percent "developable zone," as
well as the privatization of Jekyll's revenue
generating facilities, including its golf courses.
campground, water park and historic district. If
the philosophy behind the board's approach to
hotel redevelopment also guides its efforts to
further develop the island, then an affordable
Jekyll will surely disappear within the next de
cade or so.
GRASSROOTS INITIATIVE
Some of the injustices outlined above have
been touched upon in recent articles in the press,
but what's largely missing from this coverage is
the fact that thousands of those "plain people of
Georgia" to whom Governor Thompson referred
have launched a campaign to dissuade the board
from adopting a Jekyll "revitalization" plan that
will price many visitors off the island. We have
organized ourselves into a grassroots movement
called the Initiative to Protect Jekyll Island
(IPJI), which aims to prevent "the people's is
land" from becoming just another upscale resort.
The IPJI's 6,000 supporters, who come from
over 260 of Georgia's towns and cities, are#f the
mind that grassroots civic action still counts for
something these days, and we're determined to
test the state's political waters in this regard.
Having begun a drive to educate the public on
the Jekyll redevelopment question, the IPJI is
currently in the midst of a campaign to gather
tens of thousands of signatures on a petition
circulating under the banner of "Let's Keep Jekyll
Island Affordable." We are also conducting a
year-long survey to take the public's pulse on the
Jekyll redevelopment issue.
The group intends to present overwhelming
proof that the JIA's board has adopted an ap
proach to Jekyll's revitalization that is complete
ly out of step with the general will on this issue.
With widespread public backing and the future
of "the people's island" at stake, the IPJI is hop
ing that Georgia's lawmakers will side with the
"plain people of Georgia" in calling for a revital
ized Jekyll Island friendly to mainstream citizens
rather than just the favored few.
So there's the story, and it is a troublesome
one indeed. We have a governor-appointed board
of directors and its developer friends pitted
against the plain people of Georgia. There are
legal moral and environmental issues involved
in this struggle, billions of dollars to be made by
developers, and tens of thousands of average-
income Georgians who stand to be locked out of
their own state park if the board—a small group
of political appointees—has its way.
Lack of public awareness regarding what is
about to happen to Jekyll, and inaction on the
part of those who are aware of the Jekyll situa
tion, are what the pro-development forces seem
to be counting upon. Their will may well prevail
unless Georgians by the thousands act now. Help
show the power of grassroots civic action, and
help save the soul of Jekyll Island.
David Egan
David Egan is a cofounder of the Initiative to Protect
Jekyll Island. Learn moro at www.savejekyllisland.org
10 FLAGPOLE.COM • AUGUST 29, 2007
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