Environmentalists Wednesday lambasted the Sea Island Co.’s plans to keep an already fragile beach — where eight multil-million dollar homes are proposed — from further eroding into the Atlantic Ocean.
Owners of Sea Island, the posh coastal resort favored by well-to-do Atlantans, seek state and federal permission to build a groin — a long, narrow, rocky structure in the water that prevents erosion in certain areas — as well as the addition of 120,000 yards of sand and a sand dune system along the so-called "spit" south of The Cloister.
Home sites along the spit's northern edge will run between $3.5 million and $5.5 million. Eighty acres below the development will be placed into a conservation easement, according to a March deal beween the company and environmentalists.
“If this proposed project is approved, it well set a terrible precedent for the entire Georgia coast,” said Steve Caley, legal director for Atlanta-based GreenLaw, one of a handful of environmental groups opposing the plan. “With sea level rise already occurring, and predicted to continue, we anticipate seeing more of these types of proposals.”
The Sea Island Co. says the project "is unlikely to have any negative impact to wildlife or to other nearby shorelines, including East Beach" on neighboring St. Simons Island.
The permit application is tentatively set for review December 11 by Georgia's Department of Natural Resources. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must also sign off on the project.
