By Associated Press - Thursday, January 23, 2014

ATLANTA (AP) - A big change proposed to the Georgia law that limits development on Jekyll Island has won unanimous approval from committees in both the state House and Senate.

Members of the Natural Resources and Environment committees for both chambers agreed Thursday that the 1971 law limiting development on Jekyll Island to 35 percent of its total acreage should be scrapped.

Instead, lawmakers are being asked to adopt a fixed acreage that would allow development of just 78 additional acres on Jekyll Island. Only 20 of those acres could go to hotels and other commercial projects.

The Jekyll Island Authority and conservation groups crafted the compromise because they couldn’t agree on how to measure the island’s size.

Identical bills are before the House and Senate. Final floor votes could come next week.

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