To begin with, visitation is not down by half since 1990, as Mr. Langford claims. The DOT figures he cites compare peak season causeway traffic counts from the early 1990s to off-season traffic counts in recent years. The DOT has confirmed that this is the case, and Mr. Langford was informed of this fact weeks ago, yet he continues to repeat the same argument. Why? Because Linger Longer, despite the facts, must insist that visitation has dropped dramatically so it can justify its claim that Jekyll needs major development - a “town center”- if Georgians are to “rediscover Jekyll.”
The truth is the Jekyll Island Authority’s own traffic count figures show a 12% drop in visitation over the past decade, most of which is linked to the lack of decent accommodations on the island, rather to any longing for a town center, as Linger Longer has falsely assumed.
Equally misleading is Mr. Langford’s argument that the decline in golf rounds on Jekyll shows that visitation has dropped by 50%. True, the number of golf rounds has dropped off significantly, but Mr. Langford apparently is unaware the fact that Jekyll’s courses competed against only a few local public golf courses in the early 1990s. Now they compete against twelve.
Mr. Langford says hotel stays on the island are down by 24% since 1990, but he fails to note that Jekyll now has 30% fewer hotel rooms than it did in the 1990s. When he does mention the closing of some hotels, he tries to argue that with fewer hotel rooms occupancy rates should have been up in the other hotels. The truth is the poor condition of most of the remaining oceanfront hotels has suppressed their occupancy rates.
The two oceanfront hotels (Beachview Club and Days Inn) that have been rebuilt in recent years enjoy fill rates nearly double those in disrepair, yet Mr. Langford says Jekyll needs more than “a new hotel or a coat of paint.” The success enjoyed by these two hotels indicates that occupancy rates will increase dramatically in the other oceanfront hotels that are up for reconstruction over the next five years.
Mr. Langford claims that the Linger Longer project will rest within the existing footprint of developed land. Anybody who knows Jekyll also realizes that the vast majority of the “developed” land being referred to consists of oceanfront public parking facilities. Mr. Langford has said that Jekyll needs “a more reasonable” use of that land, defining “reasonable” as an oceanfront condo and time-share community. Suffocating Jekyll’s open beachfront with what Linger Longer is selling may be a “reasonable” plan for Mr. Langford, but it does not sit well with the vast majority of Jekyll’s visitors, according to surveys reaching more than 6,000 Georgians.
This is not to say that people are defending aging, asphalt parking lots, as Mr. Langford has often claimed. The surface of the existing lots should be made more environmentally friendly, and picnic space could be added as a buffer zone between the lots and the beach.
“Average Georgians” are Linger Longer’s target audience, says Mr. Langford. Linger Longer’s own statistics, however, show that the average price of its condos will be over a half-million dollars, and that its typical condo will rent for above $2,000 a week, more than double what a comparable oceanfront villa now rents for on Jekyll. Furthermore, the largest of Linger Longer’s three hotels (400 rooms) will have an average daily room rate of $183 and well over $200 in the summer season, when Georgians typically vacation on Jekyll. Linger Longer’s ‘economy’ hotel (the one for “average Georgians“) has 125 rooms and is located as far from the beach as the town center development site would allow. In fact, its rear end is hanging off the west side of the 45-acre development tract.
Mr. Langford implies that Linger Longer loves affordability, stating that 72% of the town center’s rooms will be priced under $139 a night. What he does not say is that this figure only holds true if each room in a rental condo is counted separately and then averaged in with hotel rooms.
Mr. Langford labels those who are opposed to Linger Longer’s commercialization of Jekyll’s most popular beach as people who “don’t want anything to change on the island.” The truth is surveys show that Jekyll’s friends favor responsible revitalization of the island, including hotel reconstruction, convention center redevelopment, enhancement of family dining opportunities, expansion of the campground, and further promotion of Jekyll as an ecotourist destination. They do not, however, want to see Linger Longer’s condo/time-share/hotel complex take root along Jekyll’s hallmark open beach.
Mr. Langford describes Senator Jeff Chapman’s recently introduced Jekyll legislation as an attempt to “derail any serious attempts at revitalization” and as serving only “that small number of people who really don’t want ‘average Georgians’ or any other visitors coming to Jekyll Island.”
The truth is Senator Chapman, as most people know, is an outspoken supporter of Jekyll’s revitalization and a long-time friend of “average Georgians.” His legislation would help to ensure that Jekyll is redeveloped in a responsible fashion and remains affordable for most Georgians, allowing more and more people to visit the island and enjoy the splendor of Georgia’s Jewel. Sure, Senator Chapman’s Jekyll bills would protect Jekyll’s public beach from commercialization, but is this a bad thing? Does this constitute “a derailment of revitalization,” or is it just good public policy at work?
Unfortunately, Mr. Langford, in an effort to sell a flawed proposal that would benefit a private developer, has only muddied the waters of the Jekyll development controversy. When fact is separated from fiction, however, the silt disappears and the truth about the Linger Longer project rises to the top.
Mindy Egan
Co-Director, Initiative to Protect Jekyll Island
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