Things are looking up on Jekyll Island

Things are looking up on Jekyll Island

Posted by

in Geiger's Counter

Thursday, June 25. 2009

Comments (14)

As a one of its chief detractors in recent years, I feel it is incumbent upon me to report things are looking up on Georgia’s Jekyll Island.

We were at Jekyll earlier this month for the Georgia Press Association’s annual convention. We stayed at the Jekyll Island Club Hotel and the accommodations, food and service were top notch.

Please login or register to read the rest of this story.

Trackbacks

Trackback specific URI for this entry

No Trackbacks

Comments

Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

#1 Anna Evanick on 06/25/09 at 10:33 AM

Very few people question the need to replace Jekyll's aging hotels and convention center or to renovate its beachfront park, but there is a great deal of concern over what comes next in the Jekyll Island Authority's development plans. Particularly worrisome is the fact that the JIA's recently released "Business Plan" calls for more than 1,000 additional units to be built on the island beyond the 5 reconstructed oceanfront hotels,the 400 new condos and time-shares, and the two new hotels in the Jekyll town center, all of which are already in the pipeline. If this business plan, which forecasts a peak season Jekyll population of more than 15,000 people, comes to fruition, the 35% of Jekyll eligble for development will be jam packed, just like other vacation sites along the Southeast and Gulf coasts. Jekyll can be renovated and upgraded without ruining its character, and it can better compete with other coastal resorts if it doesn't end up looking just like them.

#2 Eric Garvey on 06/25/09 at 11:36 AM

The plan for Jekyll revitalization simply seeks to return visitation to peak levels achieved in 1989, with a modest 24% growth over that peak - over the next 20 years! With current self-imposed policies that restrict building architecture, height and density, the JIA Board and management has ensured that Jekyll will always retain its unique character.

#2.1 Leon Galis on 06/25/09 at 04:16 PM

I totally agree with Mary Ann Eldridge's reply to Eric Garvey. I can't add anything to what she said. She's said it all. For all the good it'll do. The Jekyll Island Authority has been deaf, blind and dumb about this whole "revitalization" project. There's no reason to think they'll be swayed by the views of mere Georgia citizens.

#2.2 caretta Loggerhead on 06/25/09 at 11:06 PM

Yes that's 64 feet high, 6 stories. St.Simons the next island, and the town of Brunswick have a lower height restrictions then Jekyll. Jekyll will be known for tall buildings, overdevelopment,cats on leashes(the proposed new ordinance)and lights that are shining on the beach in a direct violation of the Turtle Lighting ordinance. Rodeo Drive here we come.

#3 Mary Ann Eldridge on 06/25/09 at 02:27 PM

The “modest” growth that Mr. Garvey refers to constitutes jamming 4,100 residential and lodging units into 1,450 acres of developable land on Jekyll Island. This represents a 150% increase in Jekyll’s current built environment and a 60% increase over the peak figures reached some years ago, not a restoration of the way things were, as Mr. Garvey suggests. The “self-imposed” building guidelines that Mr. Garvey refers to allow for structures 64 feet in height – hardly consistent with Jekyll’s state park character. The level of development forecasted in the JIA’s 15-year “Business Plan” would lead to a density level more than twice the Bureau of Census definition of an urban area, again, hardly consistent with Jekyll’s character.
Mr. Garvey’s claim that “the JIA board and management has ensured that Jekyll will always retain its unique character” is hard to accept given the JIA’s failure to adequately address potential impacts of increased development, increased numbers of visitors or greater density of commercial activity on visitor experiences, the island’s ecosystems and wildlife, or the uniqueness of Jekyll Island as one of the last, accessible yet mostly undeveloped barrier islands.
It’s a shame that the JIA could not be content with replacing Jekyll’s aging oceanfront hotels and convention/retail centers and with restoring lodging capacity to its all-time high, for this would have allowed Jekyll’s integrity and uniqueness, as both a place and a mindset, to remain in tact. Instead of celebrating Jekyll’s own distinct sense of place, of showcasing its natural rhythms and environment, the JIA has set other priorities for itself, aiming for what appears to be the creation on Jekyll of another, anyplace, resort atmosphere.
The JIA board and management may be comfortable with the level of real estate development it has forecasted, but I doubt if it will sit well with those people who truly understand and appreciate Jekyll’s unique character.

#4 Lori on 06/25/09 at 04:13 PM

How can adding more than 4,000 residential and lodging units into the 35% of the island eligible for development can be considered "modest"?

I am pleased that Mr. Gieger and the GPA enjoyed their visit to the island. However,
many people that know and love Jekyll do not travel on business, with a convention, or with the help of their expense account. Jekyll must stay affordable for ALL visitors and especially for the citizens of Georgia (who still own the island). Is this affordability and availability included in the redevelopment plans? Not unless it has been drastically and recently altered!

What a big strong important man Mr. Hooks is for having an older man running a "bike shack" on the island fired. And the fact that the writer of this article is so overwhelmingly impressed by such vengeful pettiness is truly telling.

#5 Susan Me on 06/25/09 at 11:17 PM

Jekyll Island is so much more than a luxury accommodation. I love to come to Jekyll and stay on the Island but if staying there overnight means destroying the character of the island; I rather come there and leave it as I found it than have beachfront accommadations. Jekyll Island has a natural beauty that seems to welcome me and give me a feeling that I am not on a vacation or at a tourist attraction. When I am there I am at one with nature and I am at a place that gives me peace and pleasure just being at one with nature and my God.

The JIA and the others who see Jekyll Island as a money maker; a convention destination; a resort just don't get it. I know the hotels need to be replaced. I know that the island needs a lot of work. But the thing about it is over developing and over crowding the island by shifting around the facts and figures to stay within the state laws is where the line should be drawn. When all is said and done the truth will be known. If Jekyll Island is turned into another St. Simons Island it will be no more than another dog eat dog destination.

If this happen it will break my heart because to me there is no amount of money that can buy the natural wonder that is JEKYLL ISLAND.

#6 Catherine Nidrale on 06/26/09 at 08:59 AM

No reasonable person disputes that Jekyll accomodations need spiffing up. But that is most certainly not the JIA's plan. They want extensive NEW construction which will completely alter this beloved state park. Their initial proposal was for a 63 acre resort complex at the end of the causeway to be built and run by Linger Longer, a company owned by high-profile Republican campaign donors and power brokers Mercer and Jamie Reynolds. Thanks to a huge public outcry against it (and the recession) these plans were scaled back, but will still yield a huge additional increase in built area and density on Jekyll.
And the JIA has contracted with the multi-national firm Helman Hurley Charvat Peacock who were the "overall concept designers" of the gigantic, grotesque and now failing "Palm Tree Island" project in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which is probably the most ostentatious, weird and over-the-top design project in the world. Isn't it nice to know that our $50 million in tax-payer backed general obligation bonds the JIA secured for the Linger Longer project with the intervention of helpful friends in the legislature is going to pay the fees of this multi-national firm? Goodbye People's Island, hello gaudy monster resort.
The entire process of "improving" Jekyll Island has been rife with questionable deals done behind closed doors and with no input whatsoever from the people of Georgia as to the fate of their beloved state park.
Hopefully whoever becomes Georgia's next governor will have a more enlightened view of the value of preserving Jekyll's natural wonders and will not view Jekyll as merely an "economic engine" for endless development and/or a political patronage plum.

#6.1 Beach Peach on 06/26/09 at 09:16 PM

I agree with Catherine. Walter Geiger is delusional if he thinks that just because there is a 65% development restriction on Jekyll that the island will be protected from skintight density and overuse. I have do doubts that Mercer Renyolds will cram as many units into that 65% as they possibly can, stretching their development skyward to the legal limits and gobbling every inch of what's left of that 65%. The result? Urban density, decreasing air quality, noise, and a reduction in quality of life with a well-healed clientele. Why not leave these blights in Atlanta, and St. Simons?

#7 Ronald Doyle on 06/27/09 at 07:43 PM

Mr. Geiger is right, the new executive director of the JIA is a detail man, set on on running Jekyll like a fine-tuned clock. The problem is, however, that executive director Hooks does not set policy for the island; that privilege is reserved for the Governor's appointees to the JIA board, who have shown, to date, that they are bent on developing the 35% of Jekyll as much as they can, not for Jekyll's welfare but for that of the politically-connected private partner of the JIA. The board knows that the vast majority of Jekyll's visitors are opposed to the commercialization of the island; the JIA's own guest survey has shown this to be true. Yet the board persists in pursuing a development program that will enrich the Authority's private partner - Mercer Reynolds -but will not benefit the island or its visitors. Obviously, Jekyll does not need to add hundreds of condos and a thousand hotel rooms beyond its all time highs in order to be a state park of choice for Georgains, but the JIA board continues to insist that this level of development is what Jekyll needs and Georgians want, all while masking mega-development behind the innocuous term "revitalization." The press, Jekyll's visitors, and legislators such as Sen. Jeff Chapman have all blown the whistle on what the JIA board is trying to do to JI State Park, yet the development march continues, abetted by well-meaning people such as Mr. Gieger who think that the 65/35 law regarding Jekyll development ensures that the island will not be overrun by the JIA's so-called revitalization program.

#8 Susan DeHoff on 06/29/09 at 05:10 PM

Mr. Geiger, I like your idea of what is needed to improve Jekyll Island. I have been visiting the island for years, and I, too, stopped staying at the run down hotels several years ago. I like the rental properties much better.

I like your ideas of replacing the old hotels with new ones, replacing the busted up asphalt with a nice park, and giving discourteous vendors the boot. I wish that is what the Jekyll Island Authority and Linger Longer had in mind. Their development plans are far in excess of you and I see as helpful to Jekyll. Their plans call for much more than 35% of Jekyll to be developed, which, as I see it should cause a problem for the state that it is not causing.

There is much interest in developing Jekyll Island much as other Islands along the coast are developed. I, for one, do not see that as benefitting the natural, peaceful, marine environment that draws me and a lot of others like me back to the beach each year. Some of us have several days' journeys to make, and still, despite that busted up asphalt, we come.

In the interest of public information, it would be good if you took a close look at the Bleakly Advisory Group report as well as the Linger Longer development plans and write again about what is happening, or about to happen, on Jekyll Island. Folks who like the serenity of the island would appreciate advance warning of what's to come.

#8.1 Scott E on 06/30/09 at 03:34 PM

I think it is also important to point out the Jekyll Island's charter called for the island to be kept affordable for Georgians. This includes those Georgians who don't necessarily want or cannot afford the higher cost "resort" experience that seems to be envisioned by the developers.

I think it is nice to have a State Park that provides a place for a larger group of citizens to enjoy without having to spend big money for "luxury-type" accommodations.

For us, that is one of the big draws of Jekyll. You can still get an experience of a rapidly disappearing coastal visit where "everyman" can afford to visit. Look at the changes to Panama City Beach as condos crowd out the more traditional Mom and Pop type establishments.

Yeah, the rooms may be a bit dated and Jekyll certainly doesn't compare to Hilton Head, Sea Island and other fancy spots like that. But then that is precisely the charm of Jekyll and exactly the reason why these development plans are not what is best for our state and all it citizens.

#8.1.1 Walter Geiger on 06/30/09 at 03:41 PM

the decision then rests on whether or not jekyll wants to be a player in the convention business. if it does, amenities are a requirement. if not, i have no problem with that.

#9 Anonymous on 07/01/09 at 03:32 AM

you all sound like a bunch of cocaine heads.

Only registered users may comment on stories. Please login or register to post comments. Your browser must support cookies.

The author does not allow comments to this entry