(a) The authority shall, on or before July 1, 1996, cause to be created a master plan for the management, preservation, protection, and development of Jekyll Island. The master plan shall delineate, based upon aerial survey, the present and permitted future uses of the land area of Jekyll Island which lies above water at mean high tide and shall designate areas to be managed as environmentally sensitive, historically sensitive, and active use areas. The master plan shall also delineate the boundaries of the area or areas delineated on the master plan as the 65 percent of the land area of Jekyll Island which lies above water at mean high tide and over which the authority has no power to improve, lease, or sell pursuant to subsection (a) of Code Section 12-3-243. If the aerial survey demonstrates that the percentage of undeveloped land on Jekyll Island is presently less than 65 percent, then no further development of undeveloped land shall be permitted in the master plan.

(b) In the creation of the master plan, the authority shall, after preparation of a preliminary plan, give notice of the existence of the preliminary plan in the legal organs of Glynn and Fulton counties and in at least two newspapers of state-wide general circulation not less than 60 days prior to the meeting of the authority at which the preliminary plan is to be considered for final adoption. After giving this notice, the authority shall hold a public hearing at a convenient location on Jekyll Island and receive and consider such oral and written comments on the preliminary plan as may be presented.

(c) The authority, in the exercise of its authority to develop, manage, preserve, and protect Jekyll Island, shall be guided by and shall adhere to the master plan as the same may from time to time be amended as provided in subsection (d) of this Code section.

(d) The authority may, from time to time, amend the master plan but only in compliance with the following procedure:

(1) Any proposed amendment to the master plan shall be described in written form and, if capable of such description, in visual form and presented publicly at a regular meeting of the authority;

(2) After the proposed amendment is presented publicly at a regular meeting of the authority, a brief summary of the proposed amendment shall be advertised in the legal organs of Glynn and Fulton counties, distributed to the media by news release, and published in appropriate publications of the authority. Each such advertisement, news release, and publication shall also contain:

(A) The time and place of the public hearing on the proposed amendment, which public hearing shall be held no earlier than 15 days after the latest publication of the advertisement in the legal organ of Glynn or Fulton County as required by this paragraph;

(B) Directions as to the manner of receiving comments from the public regarding the proposed amendment; and

(C) The date on which the meeting of the authority at which the proposed amendment will be considered for approval or rejection, which meeting shall not be held any sooner than 30 days after the meeting of the authority at which the proposed amendment was announced pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection;

(3) The authority shall transmit three copies of the information required by paragraph (2) of this subsection to the Office of Legislative Counsel at least 30 days prior to the date of the meeting at which the proposed amendment will be considered. The Office of Legislative Counsel shall immediately furnish the presiding officers of each house with a copy of the information received. The presiding officers, or the Office of Legislative Counsel if the presiding officer is unavailable, shall then assign the information to the chairperson of the appropriate standing committee in each house for review and provide copies to any member of that house who makes, or has made, a standing written request;

(4) In the event a standing committee to which the information has been assigned as provided in paragraph (3) of this subsection files an objection to a proposed amendment to the master plan with the chairperson of the authority prior to the authority's taking action on the proposed amendment and the authority adopts the proposed amendment over the objection, the authority shall notify the presiding officers of the Senate and House of Representatives, the chairpersons of the standing committees to which the information was referred, and the Office of Legislative Counsel within ten days after the adoption of the amendment to the master plan. Thereafter, by introduction of a resolution to override the amendment within the first 30 days of the next regular session of the General Assembly, the amendment may be considered by the branch of the General Assembly whose committee objected to its adoption. In the event the resolution is adopted by the members of the branch of the General Assembly in which it is introduced, it shall be immediately transferred to the other branch of the General Assembly, which branch shall consider the resolution within five days of its being received. In the event the resolution to override the amendment to the master plan is adopted by a vote of two-thirds of the members of each branch, the amendment to the master plan shall be void on the day after the adoption of the resolution by the second branch of the General Assembly. In the event the resolution is ratified by a vote of less than two-thirds of the members of either house, the resolution shall be submitted to the Governor for approval or veto. In the event the resolution fails to pass both houses or is vetoed by the Governor, the amendment to the master plan shall remain in effect. In the event of the Governor's approval of the resolution, the amendment to the master plan shall be void on the day after the date of the Governor's approval of the resolution;

(5) Any proposed changes to the boundaries of the area or areas delineated on the master plan as the 65 percent of the land area of Jekyll Island which lies above water at mean high tide and over which the authority has no power to improve, lease, or sell pursuant to subsection (a) of Code Section 12-3-243 shall be surveyed and marked at least seven days prior to the public hearing required by paragraph (2) of this subsection in such a fashion as to be readily discernible on the ground by members of the public; and

(6) At the meeting of the authority which has been identified in the advertisement required by paragraph (2) of this subsection as the meeting to consider the approval or rejection of the proposed amendment, the authority shall consider in an open and public meeting the proposed amendment to the master plan which, if approved, shall become a part of the master plan, subject, however, to the provisions of paragraph (4) of this subsection.