ATLANTA — An agreement worked out between environmentalists, property owners and other interested groups about where the ocean stops and dry land starts on Jekyll Island is the subject of legislation introduced Tuesday.
House Bill 715, by Rep. Mark Hamilton, R-Cumming, is now pending in the House Natural Resources Committee.
When Hamilton chaired the committee that oversees the state park on Jekyll, he noticed that the whole time, the various groups debated how to determine where the shore was based on changes in the weather and tides.
“So, simple-minded Mark Hamilton, one of the first things I said is why don’t we put a stake in the ground, why don’t we determine at some point in time the acreage of the 65 and 35 … and say ‘this is developable, and this is not developable’?” he said.
The reason it matters is because current law limits development to 35 percent of the island, leaving the remaining 65 percent in its natural state.
Hamilton said he began discussing his plan with the various groups and eventually won a settlement.
“The idea took off,” he said. “… They tried to find reasons it wouldn’t work, and quite honestly, they found fewer and fewer ideas. Then we were able to get to the point where we have agreement.”
