Jekyll Island, GA: Senator vs developer; it just got more interesting

I wrote yesterday about the committee vote that killed bills introduced by Senator Jeff Chapman meant to protect Jekyll Island State Park from inappropriate development. Two representatives of the Jekyll Island Authority spent much of their time essentially branding the Senator a liar because he accused the JIA of using misleading figures to justify a development that has garnered much public protest.

But apparently, not all of the JIA board members feel that way. One member has publicly denounced the shameful display that took place in a tiny room at the capital on Thursday.

Here's the entry from the AJC's political insider:

You know that on Thursday, the Senate Economic Development Committee killed three bills sponsored by state Sen. Jeff Chapman (R-Brunswick) intended to upend current redevelopment plans for Jekyll Island.

In the process, two members of the Jekyll Island Authority — chairman Ben Porter and board member Steve Croy — accused the senator of using lies to make his case. See the details here.

This afternoon, we got this note from Ed Boshears, a third member of the Jekyll Island Authority, indicating some sharp division among members of that board:

“I want to make it clear that I have not accused Sen. Chapman of lying and I do not think he is lying.

“There is a difference of opinion about the interpretation of certain figures concerning Jekyll. Chapman may or may not be right in what he is saying. If Porter and Croy want to make shrill, hysterical accusations that Chapman is lying, then they need to provide proof and the only way to do that is to have an outside independent agency do an evaluation of the figures.

“We are taught as attorneys never to accuse anybody of lying unless you are prepared to prove it. Porter and Croy cannot prove that he is lying and they know it.

“As the dean of my law school used to say, ‘Figures don’t lie but liars can figure.’ I did not learn how true that maxim is until I got on the Jekyll Authority Board. Porter and Croy’s statements are grossly irresponsible and I do not want anybody to think that I agree with or condone their behavior.”

Boshears, an attorney and former Republican state senator, has been a member of the board since 2005 and is one of two from the area. He's questioned the actions of other board members before; prior to the JIA's announced partnership with Linger Longer, developer Trammell Crow received a deal from the Authority that included a $10 million rent abatement. Both Boshears and Chapman questioned the wisdom of that decision since the property is prime beachfront real estate and the JIA had been using its "dire" financial situation as justification for development.

An opinion written in the Savannah Morning News says that the LLC deal should be put on hold while these allegations are investigated. Boshears just added fuel to that fire.

•  I'm not from Georgia

  but I appreciate you publicizing this issue here.

  by Naturegal on Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 03:00:07 PM PDT

  •  Thanks for reading

    One of the main reasons I write it here and not just my personal blog is because I feel like it's something that's happened all over the country. This time developers just picked MY place.

    by seaturtles on Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 03:07:03 PM PDT

    •  That's definitely true

      And unfortunately sometimes we forget to watch out for the local issues in our own backyard.

      by Naturegal on Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 04:22:33 PM PDT

•  I love Jekyll Island

  If they let the developers come in they will surely destroy this charming little seaside island.  They would be better off promoting its current charm and attraction than trying to turn it into another Myrtle Beach...

  by John H on Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 03:50:26 PM PDT

  •  I agree...

    We've been vacationing on Jekyll for years. The charming part of this island is the natural state it's in. It hasn't changed in years. They're going to turn Georgia's jewel into another corporate owned mess. Sad.

    Thanks for the update seaturtles.

    by First Amendment on Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 04:14:34 PM PDT

  •  The problem is

    that the Authority has let some hotels decline so much that while it should be a snap to promote the island as a haven from development, the accommodations are a little shabby (the Days Inn and Jekyll Island Club being the exception). If they would rebuild all the existing hotels, they'd be much better off.

    by seaturtles on Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 05:21:36 PM PDT

•  Thanks for the update

  One of my friends lives on St Simons Island and he and his friends have been fighting the developers forever.  I love Jekyll too and can't believe what I'm reading here.  What a shame to turn the natural domain into crappy condos! Hopefully, the development group will lose and, hopefully, they'll stay completely away from Cumberland Island, which is truly a beautiful place.

  by lns1122 on Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 05:00:32 PM PDT

  •  Cumberland

    is fantastic! I heard- and I'm not entirely sure about this- that the Chandler family, who started Coke, bought a strategic strip of the island to ensure that developers could never get their hands on it.

    by seaturtles on Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 05:24:05 PM PDT

    •  The majority of Cumberland

      is a designated National Seashore, so cannot be developed for that reason.  It also has no bridge, just a ferry.  A small part of it is privately owned.  http://www.nps.gov/...

      You can stay there at the Greyfield Inn, for big bucks.

      The First African Baptist Church was established on Cumberland in 1893 and then rebuilt in the 1930’s. The church was the site of the September 1996 wedding of John F. Kennedy, Jr. and Carolyn Bessette.

      It is the Carnegie family that is connected with the island.

      Sorry. I'll stop so as not to digress too much from the issue presented by the diary about Jekyll Island.

      by WiddieDawg on Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 05:54:00 PM PDT

      •  yep

        Again, I could be wrong about this- I don't know as much about Cumberland as Jekyll; it's owned by the federal gov't, not state. The Carnegies still have houses on the island. I think the Chandler family bought a strip that runs right down the center of the island so that development wouldn't be possible (not sure why that would make it so) in case the fed gov't ever tried to sell it.

        by seaturtles on Sun Mar 02, 2008 at 12:43:30 PM PDT

  •  Not just Cumberland.

    Sapelo, Ossabaw, Wassaw, St. Catherine's, and Wolf Islands are incredible, too.  

    The Georgia coast has not developed its barrier islands like Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and north Florida.  We still have the majority of the island beach frontage mostly undeveloped and in state or federal hands or privately owned, as refuge or park, with St. Simons Island, Sea Island, and Tybee Island being the big exceptions.  The inland islands have been hit pretty hard though.

    Jekyll Island is a hybrid, but it still belongs to the people of Georgia, and the mandate is that it be kept affordable for Georgia citizens, not that it be used up to enrich the few, like Sea Island.

    by WiddieDawg on Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 05:29:09 PM PDT

    •  does reynolds

      own part of sapelo? or is it just that the RJ Reynolds mansion is there?

      by seaturtles on Sun Mar 02, 2008 at 12:44:33 PM PDT

      •  The State of Georgia I believe

        owns most of Sapelo now.  The exception is the private community of Hog Hammock, which is owned and occupied by the black descendants of the old Spalding Plantation.  Thomas Spalding ran a plantation on the island in the early 1800's until the Civil War, after which the original mansion fell into ruin.  It was renovated by Howard Coffin from Detroit in 1912.  In 1934, it was purchased by Richard Reynolds.  Reynolds set up a foundation with the University of Georgia I think in 1953.  He died in 1964, and the State acquired Sapelo in 1975.  It's a state park now.  Groups can stay at the mansion provided you have a group of at least 16, pay a non-refundable deposit of $1,000 a year in advance, and stay at least two nights.  I have been on a retreat to Sapelo and stayed at the Reynolds mansion.  It is a real throw back to an earlier age.  I felt like a kid exploring all of the back halls, the basement, the roof, the circus room, and the grounds.

        I know you are familiar with the mansions on Jekyll.  The Reynolds Mansion is very similar, but still fully furnished.  The library even has books with Reynolds' ex libris plates in them.

        But I don't think that any of the Reynolds family still has any holdings on Sapelo Island.

        by WiddieDawg on Sun Mar 02, 2008 at 07:02:48 PM PDT

        •  thanks

          My mom has been there but I never have. Sounds like a pretty cool place.

          by seaturtles on Sun Mar 02, 2008 at 07:57:44 PM PDT