Jekyll plans raise eyebrows

April 10, 2007
By CAROLE HAWKINS | Times-Union correspondent

JEKYLL ISLAND - For decades, Jekyll Island has been a quiet beach getaway along Georgia's coast. But as the doors are opened for needed commercial revitalization, residents worry that high rise hotels and millionaires' home will be part of the package.

Nearly 150 people packed into the Jekyll Island Convention Center for the Jekyll Island Authority's monthly board meeting Monday. The meeting included a presentation by Bleakly Advisory Group, an Atlanta-based firm that has been hired to assist the Jekyll Island Authority in finding a developer to revitalize the state-owned island.

Residents made it clear they want the revitalization to be aimed at improving the island's existing commercial sites rather than the creation of new ones.

All agreed that some new development is needed.

"The challenge we face is Jekyll Island is losing its competitive position as a recreation space for Georgians," said Ken Bleakly, president of the Bleakly Advisory Group. Hotel occupancy stands at 40 percent to 50 percent compared with the 75 percent industry standard for profitability. Also, the Jekyll Island Authority's revenue base is flat at a time when Georgia's population is growing, he said.

Bleakly said his firm's mission is to develop an oceanside resort that is environmentally sensitive and financially accessible to all Georgians. Jekyll Island should be a place where those visitors can enjoy the environment and history of the Georgia barrier islands, he said.

"We are here today to listen to people talk about what they like and don't like about living on the island," he said.

Tise Eyler, president of the Jekyll Island Citizens Association, wants to see needed improvements on old hotels and commercial centers, but is concerned that House Bill 412, which extends leases on Jekyll Island, may have opened a Pandora's box for other kinds of development.

"Any time an important bill like this one is proposed, people who have a lot of divergent interests tend to get involved," he said.

"We're totally and unequivocally in favor of rebuilding on old sites where hotels were. What we're concerned with is building new structures in what they call 'developable areas,' " Eyler said.

Developmentally speaking

At stake are the 4-H center and soccer fields on the south end of the island, areas that some developers have eyed for residential development.

Bleakly has said it would measure the financial impact of any development, but Eyler doesn't want that to be the only standard.

"We'd like to see them also measured against their environmental impact," Eyler said.

Bleakly admits one of the problems is there are a lot of potential sites that could be developed. Though 65 percent of land is protected from development, the remaining 35 percent includes some undeveloped areas. It will be up to the authority to choose what will be in the island's best interests, he said.

While developers may have all kinds of ideas about what to do with Jekyll Island, it is too soon to say what might be proposed or what the Authority may act upon, Bleakly said.

"We'll probably get some crazy ideas. We'll just have to sift through them and see what we get. We could get all responses that the board decides they don't want to consider," he said.

Survey says

David and Mindy Egan, co-directors of an initiative to protect Jekyll Island's resources, came to the meeting with the results of more than 2,800 surveys circulated among Jekyll Island residents and visitors through hotels, real estate agents and on the Internet.

It shows 98 percent of people are opposed to development on the south end of Jekyll Island and more than 90 percent are against lining golf courses with condos.

"Right now our golf [courses] are wooded and wildlife-rich," David Egan said.

But the survey did show very strong support for refurbishing what needs to be refurbished, Eagan said, including the convention center, hotels and a shopping and dining center.

After gathering more comments, the Bleakly Advisory Group will develop a request for proposals package, which should be complete around mid-May. The company will then develop a short list of developers to present at the Authority's September board meeting.

Throughout the process, residents like Eyler intend to remain involved.

"Jekyll Island is a rare place," he said. "They say they're going to protect the environment, but we're going to keep being vocal about that."