More police needed for Buckhead
I may be missing something, but I think the main reason there is so much interest in Buckhead leaving the city of Atlanta and becoming Buckhead City is the increase in crime in the area, especially around Lenox Square. If the mayor of Atlanta agreed to give more police presence to that area, it would cut back on the criticism and make the change moot. The Buckhead area claims they are not represented enough compared to the amount of taxes they pay to the city of Atlanta, and this would help in that respect.
JOHN GLEATON, MONROE
Jekyll park master plan update must be revised
The ongoing master plan update for Jekyll Island State Park is embroiled in controversies about well-founded overdevelopment concerns.
The Jekyll Island Authority (JIA), responsible for preparing the update and sending it for approval by a General Assembly oversight committee, has dodged the fundamental question about development limits, which is critical to Jekyll’s treasured character.
Key to the ambiguous language of the proposed plan update – and related controversy – is the status of the island’s golf courses, to be determined by a golf-course master plan yet to be prepared. Without golf-course issues resolved, JIA asserts that it cannot set limits on development, which they say might be needed to pay for required golf-course “modernization.”
JIA’s rationale conspicuously ignores a critically important financial policy. Although Jekyll’s maintenance and daily operations must be covered by revenues produced by leases, fees, and other income, capital improvements must not.
This distinction has crucial significance when Georgia has received billions in federal funding for economic recovery.
The $18 million cost of golf-course modernization should be covered with a small portion of available federal funds, and not by sacrificing Jekyll’s natural beauty and tranquility with still more development.
Jekyll’s master plan update must establish growth limits honoring public opinion, consistent with capacity-study recommendations.
DAVID KYLER, CENTER FOR A SUSTAINABLE COAST
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