Court ruling on marshland favors developers

The Georgia Supreme Court gave the green light to a thousand home project that environmentalists say threatens the marshlands along the coast.

Environmental groups sued the state when it permitted the development of Cumberland Harbor. They said it violated the state’s Coastal Marshlands Protection Act which should consider land use next to the marshes.

But the Georgia Supreme Court ruled in favor of the developers saying the act protects land within the salt marshes but not beside them where the houses are being built.

Gordon Rogers of the Satilla River Keeper, one of groups that sued says the ruling weakens state protection of the marshlands.

“What it means is we have to fall back on certain federal protections for water quality and flow for the salt marsh… and we were hopeful the Supreme Court would strengthen the state act and clarify the use of it, but it has not.”

In this project, it could be moot point because the developer of Cumberland Harbor filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month and the project’s future is unknown.