Why does my fence need Jekyll Island Authority approval?

Jekyll Island is a state park, and homeowners hold long-term leases on their lots rather than owning the land outright. The Jekyll Island Authority reviews exterior changes to leased residential properties, and a fence counts. Its residential design guidelines set what heights, materials and finishes are acceptable, and they generally favor fences that sit quietly in the maritime forest over tall solid walls.

How long does the approval take, and do you handle it?

We prepare the drawings, material list and finish samples the Authority asks for and submit them with you. Review times vary with their calendar, so we build that into the schedule and do not set a post until the approval is in hand.

Can I build a six-foot privacy fence around my whole yard?

Often not in the form you would build in Brunswick. Guidelines on Jekyll tend to limit fence height and the amount of solid screening, especially where a lot faces the street or borders undeveloped land. A partial privacy screen around a patio, with lower or open fencing elsewhere, is a more typical outcome. We design to what the guidelines allow rather than what we hope will slip through.

How do you get equipment onto the island?

Everything comes across the Downing Musgrove Causeway, and every vehicle pays the island entry fee. We plan deliveries so material arrives in as few trips as possible and stage it on your lot, not on the road. Parking on the residential streets is tight, so we coordinate with you on where the truck sits.

Is salt exposure worse on Jekyll than on St. Simons?

The residential area sits between Beachview Drive and Riverview Drive, so most lots get salt air from the ocean on one side and the Jekyll River and marsh on the other. There is little of the island where a fence is fully sheltered. We specify ground-contact treated pine, stainless or coated fasteners, and a sealer schedule that assumes full exposure.

What about the trees and the dunes?

The maritime forest on Jekyll is protected, and the Authority is strict about tree removal and root damage. We build around trees, never through them. Dune areas on the ocean side fall under state shore protection rules and are off limits for fencing entirely.

Wood fencing on Jekyll Island: designed for the Authority's guidelines and a barrier island's salt

On Jekyll, the fence you can build is decided before the fence you want to build.

Jekyll Island is not a town. It is a Georgia state park, run by the Jekyll Island Authority, and the homes along Beachview Drive, Riverview Drive and the streets between them sit on leased lots rather than privately owned land. That single fact changes everything about a wood fence here. The Authority reviews exterior changes to residential properties, and its design guidelines say what fence heights, materials and finishes are acceptable. The state's rule that most of the island stay undeveloped keeps the maritime forest close to every backyard, and the Authority protects that forest closely.

Golden Isles Fencing and Excavation builds wood fences on Jekyll the way the island requires: design first, submission second, posts last. We are a family-owned, Christian-based company out of Brunswick, and we would rather tell you on the first visit what the guidelines will and will not allow than spend your money on a fence that gets sent back.

What the Authority's review usually means for a wood fence

We cannot speak for the Authority, and its guidelines are the document that governs, but the pattern across the jobs we have seen is consistent. Tall, solid privacy walls around an entire lot are rarely the outcome. Fences that read as part of the landscape are: lower heights, natural wood tones rather than bright paint, open or semi-open designs on the street side, and solid screening kept to a patio, a pool equipment pad or a trash enclosure. Fences are expected to stay clear of protected trees and well away from the dunes on the ocean side.

Our job is to turn what you actually need, privacy for a back patio, a safe yard for a dog, a screen for the air-conditioning units, into a design that fits those expectations. We draw it, we put together the material and finish samples the review asks for, and we submit it with you. No post goes in the ground until the approval is back.

Building on a leased lot in a maritime forest

The residential district on Jekyll sits under a canopy of live oak, pine and palmetto, and the Authority treats that canopy as part of the island's character. We build around trees rather than through them: hand-digging near trunks, moving post spacing to miss large roots, and stopping to talk with you if a root cannot be avoided. On lots that border undeveloped land, we keep the fence and our equipment inside the leased area and leave the forest floor alone.

The ground itself is barrier-island sand with a high water table in the lower streets. Posts go in deeper than our mainland standard, in wider concrete footings crowned at grade so water sheds off the wood. Because a fence here is usually lower and more open than a mainland privacy fence, wind load is less of a concern than rot, and rot is what we build against.

Salt from both directions

Most of Jekyll's houses sit on a strip of land narrow enough that the ocean is a short walk one way and the Jekyll River and marsh a short walk the other. There is very little sheltered ground. A wood fence here should be specified as though it faces the beach even if it does not. We use ground-contact rated treated pine, coated or stainless fasteners so the boards do not streak with rust, and heavy gate hardware that shrugs off salt. We also ask owners to commit to a sealer schedule before we build, because on Jekyll an unsealed fence grays and checks faster than anywhere else we work.

Designs that tend to fit Jekyll

Patio privacy screen. A short run of board-on-board or horizontal slat fence, natural finish, screening a patio or pool equipment rather than the whole lot.
Low picket or open rail. Street-facing fencing that marks the yard and keeps a dog in without walling off the house from the forest.
Enclosures. Small solid enclosures for bins, gas tanks and outdoor showers, built to match the house's trim.
Gates. Framed walk gates with stainless hinges, sized so bikes and beach carts pass without scraping.

Logistics: causeway, fees and tight streets

Every load of lumber comes across the Downing Musgrove Causeway and pays the island entry fee, so we bundle material into as few deliveries as we can and stage it on your lot. Residential streets on Jekyll are narrow and parking is limited, so we agree with you on where the truck and trailer sit before the first day. If your house is a rental, we schedule around bookings. None of this is complicated, but it has to be planned, and it is one reason a fence on Jekyll is quoted differently from the same fence in Brunswick.

Getting started

Site visit. We look at the lot, the trees, the exposure and what you are trying to solve.
Design to the guidelines. We propose a fence we believe the Authority will approve and explain why.
Submission. Drawings, materials and finishes go in for review with you.
Build. Deep footings, hand-dug near trees, sealed after the wood dries.

Estimates on Jekyll are free, and we offer financing on larger projects. Tell us which street you are on and what you need the fence to do, and we will tell you what the island will let us build.

Wood fencing on the mainland and St. Simons

For a lot where you own the land outright, read about wood fencing in Brunswick, GA, wood fencing on St. Simons Island, and everything we do as a fence company on Jekyll Island.

Other fencing options on Jekyll

Where the guidelines call for an open or low-profile fence, see our aluminum fencing on Jekyll Island, vinyl fencing on Jekyll Island, fence repairs on Jekyll Island, and wood fencing service overview.

Questions and answers

Common questions about wood fencing on Jekyll Island

Jekyll works differently from anywhere else on the coast. Here is what residents ask us.

Jekyll Island is a state park, and homeowners hold long-term leases on their lots rather than owning the land outright. The Jekyll Island Authority reviews exterior changes to leased residential properties, and a fence counts. Its residential design guidelines set what heights, materials and finishes are acceptable, and they generally favor fences that sit quietly in the maritime forest over tall solid walls.
We prepare the drawings, material list and finish samples the Authority asks for and submit them with you. Review times vary with their calendar, so we build that into the schedule and do not set a post until the approval is in hand.
Often not in the form you would build in Brunswick. Guidelines on Jekyll tend to limit fence height and the amount of solid screening, especially where a lot faces the street or borders undeveloped land. A partial privacy screen around a patio, with lower or open fencing elsewhere, is a more typical outcome. We design to what the guidelines allow rather than what we hope will slip through.

Everything comes across the Downing Musgrove Causeway, and every vehicle pays the island entry fee. We plan deliveries so material arrives in as few trips as possible and stage it on your lot, not on the road. Parking on the residential streets is tight, so we coordinate with you on where the truck sits.
The residential area sits between Beachview Drive and Riverview Drive, so most lots get salt air from the ocean on one side and the Jekyll River and marsh on the other. There is little of the island where a fence is fully sheltered. We specify ground-contact treated pine, stainless or coated fasteners, and a sealer schedule that assumes full exposure.
The maritime forest on Jekyll is protected, and the Authority is strict about tree removal and root damage. We build around trees, never through them. Dune areas on the ocean side fall under state shore protection rules and are off limits for fencing entirely.