SB 135: "Coastal Island Preservation Act"; enact

This bill targets Georgia's coastal islands that cannot be reached by a bridge, aiming to protect their cultural heritage and natural resources. It adds a new section to Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 12-3-13) that makes it illegal to build a new single-family home on one of these islands if the home would be larger, in square footage, than the largest single-family home that already existed on that same island as of July 11, 1995. The bill gives itself a short title, the 'Coastal Island Preservation Act,' and repeals any existing laws that conflict with this new rule. It does not create a new agency or enforcement mechanism beyond declaring the construction unlawful, and it does not set a specific effective date beyond the standard process for a bill becoming law.

• Makes it illegal to build a new single-family home on a bridgeless Georgia coastal island if it exceeds the size of the largest existing home there as of July 11, 1995.
• Applies the size cap specifically to coastal islands that lack bridge access, leaving bridge-connected islands unaffected by this restriction.
• Adds this restriction as a brand-new Code section (O.C.G.A. § 12-3-13) rather than rewriting existing park and recreation law.
• Repeals any prior state laws that conflict with the new size restriction.

Property owners and developers who own or want to build on undeveloped or lightly developed coastal islands in Georgia that have no bridge access, as well as real estate buyers interested in those islands. Coastal conservation groups and state land-use regulators may also be affected.

For islands without bridge access, this would set a hard ceiling on how large a new house can be, tied to whatever the largest home was back in 1995. That could limit future development options and property values on these islands while aiming to preserve their existing character and natural resources.

• Section 1 names the bill the 'Coastal Island Preservation Act' as its official short title.
• Section 2 adds new Code section 12-3-13, making it unlawful to construct a new single-family home on a bridgeless coastal island larger than the biggest such home existing there as of July 11, 1995.
• Section 3 repeals any existing state laws that conflict with this new restriction.

1. 2025-02-11Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-02-10Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Donzella James (D, SD-028)Primary sponsor

• coastal development
• property rights
• land use
• environmental preservation
• island housing