The 65/35 rule on Jekyll Island has been debated for several decades, ever since its inception. And while the discussion may still be ongoing among some admirers and lovers of the island, the rule is no longer in effect and has not been since 2014.
There is however a lot of forgotten history that warrants some clarification.
When the Jekyll Island Authority was created in 1950, the Authority Act* stipulated that only one third of the island could be offered for residential and/or commercial lease.
That limit was changed and altered in 1952 to allow improvements of no more than half of the highland portion of the island**. Nowhere did it state what was included in the “highland portion” but all parties seemed to assume that this meant anything and everything above the mean high tide line. At least that was the general consensus. The 50% rule continued to be applied until 1971.
So what happened in 1971? An amendment to the Authority Act reduced the maximum amount of land area that the Authority was empowered to survey.*** It is not clear what inspired the dramatic change. It could have been prompted by the rapid and unbridled growth of the island, which in turn gave rise to the new development limit. What is very interesting though is that the timing coincides with the state’s acquisition of Cumberland Island and its pursuit to establish such as a national seashore, a goal that was reached the next year when President Nixon signed the bill into law.
Whatever the ultimate motivation or inspiration might have been, the new 1971 amendment placed a 35% limit on commercial and residential development of Jekyll Island.
That certainly didn’t stop the Authority from further developing the north side of the island. Since the old Beachview Drive was already rerouted further west and away from the coastline, it created ample space for the construction of the Sheraton-by-the-Sea and the Sand Dollar Motel, leaving an empty lot in between the two. That lot, famously and commonly referred to in the archives as Lot 352, has been empty ever since but a portion of Beachview Drive can still be seen.
Fast forward 40 years and much development and change later, the island found itself again battling developers who wanted more, bigger, and better.
But what about the 35% rule and what about the question of whether or not the legally imposed limit had been reached? The answer to that question obviously always varied based on who you asked.
To finally settle this endless debate for once and for all, Rep. Mark Hamilton submitted House Bill 715 in the House Natural Resources Committee. His proposal, based on the Authority’s acceptance that only 1,675 acres of Jekyll Island could be developed and that only 66 acres remained to be developed going forward, was finally accepted.
On April 2014, Gov. Nathan Deal signed both House Bill 715 and Senate Bill 296 at the Great Dunes Park beach pavilion, forever limiting development of Jekyll Island, not in percentages but in hard acreage.
For more information about the History of Jekyll Island State Park, click here.
Enjoy, and I hope to welcome you all again next week for a new blog on “The rerouting of Beachview Drive and the secret of Lot 352”.
*Ga. L. 1950, p. 152 (Act No. 630).
** Ga. L. 1952, p. 276 (Act No. 860).
*** Ga. L. 1971, p. 452 (Act No. 427).
