02/08 - Oversize project will harm Jekyll

ajc.com > Opinion
READERS WRITE
By Greg Lowery
For the Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/08/08

Oversize project will harm Jekyll

The opinion column by Art Hurt offers a reasonable solution to the Jekyll Island development controversy ("A more constructive approach to the Jekyll Island issue," @issue, Feb. 5). Up to this point, public input has been "invited" but seems to have had minimal impact. Jekyll Island is a tranquil place that needs revitalization. But why can't new construction be done within the current developed footprint? Why not utilize input from visitors who have no financial stake in the island's development? Several new hotels are already planned on the sites of declining and razed properties. The proposed Town Square Center, however, is an exercise in the excessive. The hundreds of condos and timeshares in that plan would forever alter the serene character of a fragile barrier island. It would destroy what Georgia loves most about Jekyll.

Will Gov. Sonny Perdue and the Legislature allow this oversize, profit-driven plan to proceed? Do they have more dollars than sense?

Rev. GREG LOWERY, Rentz