Legislative panel rejects Jekyll preservation bill

April 13, 2007
By BRANDON LARRABE | The Florida Times-Union

ATLANTA - A measure protecting the south end of Jekyll Island from development and preventing the state from selling parts of the island was rejected Thursday by a legislative committee, setting up a pivotal battle next week on the Senate floor.

The Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee voted 5-4 to turn aside a bill sponsored by Sen. Jeff Chapman, R-Brunswick, favored by environmentalists and Jekyll residents who want greater protections for the environmentally sensitive south end. Chapman's bill also would have taken out little-known parts of state law allowing the sale of several areas of the island.

Instead, the committee backed a measure that would extend the Jekyll lease by 30 years but would not include a legislative oversight committee approved by the House. Rep. Terry Barnard, R-Glennville, sponsor of the House version, said he would ask the House to reject the Senate measure if it didn't include the oversight committee.

The battle is over a proposed lease extension for the Jekyll Island Authority, which oversees what is technically a state park. The authority says it needs the lease extension to entice developers to help in an effort to revitalize the island's sagging tourist infrastructure. The current lease expires in 2049.

The committee vote sets up what could be a bitter and hectic fight in the Senate. While Barnard backs the oversight committee, he doesn't support the more stringent protections proposed by Chapman, who has vowed to take his amendment to the Senate floor.

Chapman noted that some previously proposed adjustments to the master plan for Jekyll Island would have allowed development on the south end, which includes a nesting ground for loggerhead turtles, a 4-H Center and a renowned soccer complex. Those proposals for the south end have generally been rejected, but some residents and environmentalists now fear the area could be reopened.

"Not having protections in place would obviously make that possible," Chapman said after the meeting.

Residents of Jekyll said they were disappointed in the committee's decision. "I would hope good sense would prevail, but I guess big money did," said Tise Eyler, president of the Jekyll Island Citizen's Association.

Environmentalists saw the hands of Joe Tanner, a former natural resources commissioner and current lobbyist for developers, and Jekyll Island Authority Chairman Ben Porter.

"Not only does it allow the sale of [parts of] the land on Jekyll Island by the authority on its own whim, but the authority is shirking oversight in this substitute that was written by Joe Tanner and Ben Porter ... at the direction of the Reynolds Plantation, which intends
to develop the south end of Jekyll as well as the rest of the island," said Neill Herring, lobbyist for the Sierra Club.

One of Tanner's clients, Southeast Land Co. LLC, is owned by developers involved in Reynolds Plantation on Lake Oconee near Greensboro, Ga. A Ritz-Carlton Lodge was built at Reynolds Plantation in a pristine lakeside setting.

Supporters of the measure that passed the Senate committee said the authority had done well enough to have the same power it has always had in determining the island's future instead of allowing the General Assembly to micromanage Jekyll.

"The authority has done a good job of looking after Jekyll Island," said Sen. Ross Tolleson, R-Perry, who leads the committee and introduced the Senate version of the legislation. "And I think what we're going to have here is putting faith back in the authority."

Tanner, meanwhile, said all but about 25 acres of land on the south end of the island is protected no matter what the authority does because of other state and federal laws. Those 25 acres include more than 20 acres that are home to the 4-H Center and soccer fields,
but not the sand dunes that are home to loggerhead turtle nests.