Criminal Defense Attorney in Tybee Island, GA.

TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. (WTOC) - Tybee Island city leaders are expecting a very busy weekend as a decades old beach party is returning to the island.

Orange Crush is back this year but not without controversy. All over social media, people are voicing their concerns about Orange Crush, an event that started as a beach party for HBCU students from across the region.

In the past, there have been safety issues with the event, including a shooting in 2015. The event also hasn’t been issued a permit by the City of Tybee Island.

One of the organizers of the event said that safety for this year’s Orange Crush is a top priority.

Though no permit has been issued for this year’s Orange Crush event, co-organizer Britian Wigfall said that he has been in contact with City of Tybee Island officials, discussing the safety of eventgoers and islanders.

“We talked about the safety rules of the beach, the sandbar, and I put it on a flyer and I passed it out to everybody to let them know the rules of the beach and let them know that safety is the number one priority,” Wigfall said.

Safety- and fun- go hand in hand for this event, Wigfall says. Though it has a controversial reputation, he adds that the point of Orange Crush is not to get crazy, but to build community.

“We want people to have good wholesome fun and get home safely. We’re not just trying to break any rules and go down there and take over a city. We want to just have fun and enjoy the beach,” Wigfall said.

Orange Crush has taken place on Tybee since 1988- though for the last two years, it’s been held in Florida.

Wigfall says that the event is more sentimental than just a beach bash and that he wants those in attendance to make memories, like their parents did.

“It’s one of those things that people enjoy and talk about to this day. ‘I had fun at Orange Crush,’ they tell their parents about it, their kids about it. And I want them to speak about the good memories of Orange Crush, not the things that have happened in the past,” Wigfall said.

Orange Crush weekend does start Friday, and though it remains unpermitted, Tybee city officials say that they’re preparing for a big weekend like they would for any other event or holiday.

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TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. (WTOC) - This year will mark the second annual Lazaretto Day on Tybee Island. A commemoration of the victims of the Transatlantic Slave Trade that were quarantined on the island, before being brought to Savannah to be sold.

This year, there’ll be a deeper look at that history.

At the second annual Lazaretto Day Commemoration on Tybee Island this Saturday, project leaders are going to be unveiling a new way to learn about Black history on the island and it’s only a click away.

After years in the making, the virtual Black History Trail is online for people to see. The trail is a collaborative effort between Tybee MLK, the Tybee Historical Society, and Georgia Southern University.

“This is our statement to say that Tybee is open for everyone that wants to come out here and enjoy the island, and to learn more about it,” said Pat Leiby, the director of community engagement with Tybee MLK.

The virtual trail currently has historical information about 13 stops on the island. Though there’s no physical markers on the trail yet, project leaders tell me there will eventually be signs at each stop, as well as a brochure.

Folks are encouraged to go visit the 13 stops in person, while reading along the website.

“We go to the pier, to talk about the musicians that came to entertain during Jim Crow at the pier. We go to the back river to talk about the quarters of the maids on the back river. It’s just very informative, and I think that people will enjoy it. It’ll be a new way to see Tybee,” Tybee MLK co-founder, Julia Pearce said.

Leaders say one of the most important things about the project is accuracy.

Sarah Jones, the executive director of the Tybee Island Historical Society, said that compiling all the information was a bit of an undertaking, but those involved had direction from Amy Potter of Georgia Southern.

“She was really, really vital in helping us and getting us organized, actually. And showing us how to start the research and where to go do the research and how to do it the proper way. That was really important. She’s a little bit of an expert in oral histories, and so that was something that we all learned a lot about, because a lot of our information from this trail comes from oral histories,” Jones said.

Jones said that they’ll be working to add more stops to the Black History Trail as they continue to learn more about Black history on Tybee Island.

If you’d like to take a look at the Black History Trail, please click here.

Copyright 2023 WTOC. All rights reserved.

TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. (WTOC) - Zunzi’s in Savannah is getting ready to expand to Tybee Island.

Folks with Tybee Island Main Street say what this means is that Tybee has become a place where people want to do business. They say the island had 6 million visits last year and any time a new business opens it adds to the overall experience people have when they come here.

“It’s just another opportunity for us to join a community and hopefully do good things together,” said Chris Smith, the owner of Zunzi’s and Zunzibar.

Chris Smith, the Owner of Zunzi’s and Zunzibar, says it’s been a goal of his to find a piece of property on Tybee. When Gerald’s Pig and Shrimp off Highway 80 went up for sale, it was a no brainer.

“Just an amazing piece of property and so I quickly reached out and we had a lease done in about 45 days.”

Smith applied for an entertainment license through the City of Tybee and according to the city the restaurant got approval. Since then, the building has been getting a facelift.

Smith says people can expect the same menu here as the Savannah location, but some items on the menu may have a Tybee twist. He says he hopes visitors and locals will enjoy their unique cuisine and environment.

“We’re going to shoot to have live music during peak season almost every day. We’re going to keep it simple and focused on a great guest experience. Things that our guests have loved for many years downtown.”

But it’s not only about a new cuisine experience for islanders. Cassadi Kendrick the Executive Director of the island’s Main Street program says it’s about giving people more dining options and more places to find work.

“Just getting creative with recruiting new people to come out here and work will not just help a new business but could also help the existing businesses out here too,” said Kendrick.

Kendrick says this growth further markets the island and encourages people, who might not otherwise, to choose Tybee as a place to go.

“Hopefully with their locations in Savannah some of the crowds that visit those locations come out and experience the Tybee location. They could’ve picked a lot of other places, but they picked Tybee.”

There’s also talk about another well-known restaurant in Savannah opening a location on the island as well. The city says paperwork for it hasn’t been filed yet, so stick with WTOC for that update.

Copyright 2023 WTOC. All rights reserved.

TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. (WTOC) - With tourist season ramping up, city leaders on Tybee Island are gearing up to accommodate tens of thousands of visitors.

A new study by Georgia Southern University confirms what leaders have thought for years, Tybee is seeing more and more people each year.

The study took place from July 2021 to September 2022, both online and in person. Researchers found that over half of the people that visit Tybee throughout the year aren’t local to the area, but play a critical role in the local economy.

Over the period of the study, Tybee Island saw around 1.8 million visitors. That’s up from 1.04 million the island saw the last time GSU did a study in 2015.

That’s a 59 percent increase in not even a decade. It’s a trend that city leaders have definitely taken notice of.

“We can’t just pretend that we’re 3,000 people anymore. We have to think larger. And we want everyone to be safe, so the reason we have to do that is, not only do we have to have resources on hand to respond to the needs of the millions of tourists that are here every year, but we also have to have those resources available for the people that live here,” said Tybee Island Assistant City Manager Michelle Owens.

It’s a situation, that in some ways, pays for itself. With the increase in visitors, there’s been an increase in overall revenue on the island.

The study found that tourists on the island generated around $215 million in revenue, compared to $165 million in 2015.

City leaders say that that money is critical to maintaining the island- which allows the infrastructure to keep up with the influx of visitors.

“All of our city facilities, our parks, our facilities that people like to rent for weddings, we want to make sure that all of those are up to standards, so a lot of that money will help to go towards that,” Owens said.

Overall, the study found that tourist spending supports jobs and the economy of Tybee, as well as Chatham County as a whole.

Still, Owens says that she wants everyone to be mindful of the people that call Tybee home.

“We love our visitors on Tybee, but we’re also a local community where people live. They have to go to work, and we’re trying to accommodate all of those types of people that love Tybee.”

Owens adds that this is the time of year where the island really starts to see a spike in tourists- which means implementing things like traffic control measures.

Some of those measures will start popping up this week.. so be mindful of that when you’re heading to the beach.

Little Tybee Island

One of the most well-known tourist destinations in the area is Tybee Island. But a lesser known relative of Tybee, is Little Tybee Island.

You’re free to visit the island, but Department of Natural Resources officials say that, not everyone is treating the island like they should.

The DNR has had control of Little Tybee and Cabbage Island since they designated it as a heritage preserve in March 1992. Now, 31 years later, they’re having issues with people building structures on the island, like makeshift bathrooms and cooking areas.

As a result, the DNR has had to carry out a cleanup of Little Tybee. The first part of that cleanup involved demolishing the unpermitted structures.

So far, the work has cost over $30,000 to carry out, and they’re not even done yet. Jason Lee, who’s overseeing the project for the DNR, says that people are welcome to camp on Little Tybee, but what they aren’t welcome to do, is disrupt the environment.

He says it’s frustrating to have to spend the time and money to clean the island up.

“To have a jewel like that in conservation is no small feat, and it took a lot of work from a lot of different parties from the Nature Conservancy to locals in the Chatham County area to make that conservation happen. And it’s disconcerting that the very folks who enjoy those natural areas don’t choose to keep them clean and protected for the rest of the public,” Lee said.

The second part of the cleanup effort, Lee estimates, is going to cost another $30,000. Bringing the grand total for the whole effort to $60,000.

They haven’t started the second part yet, he says, because they’re asking the public for help in cleaning up the island.

If you’ve built one of the structures, left litter on the island, or just want to help, Lee encourages you to do so.

You can make it to the island by kayaking or boating over, not swimming.

Lee says they’re asking people to do this immediately. They’ll set a date for the second part of the cleanup effort when they see what sort of a response they get.

Copyright 2023 WTOC. All rights reserved.

TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. (WTOC) -UPDATE- All lanes on the Lazaretto Bridge are open for traffic.

Original Story- The Lazaretto Creek Bridge, which is the only way on or off Tybee Island, has been shut down to one lane since Monday.

The Georgia Department of Transportation says this is so crews can get preliminary work done that’s required for a future bridge replacement project.

The work is necessary but has led to major traffic delays this weekend.

People trying to get on and off of Tybee Island have reported hours-long waits to cross the bridge Friday into this weekend, which has been a frustrating situation all around.

“We hit the bridge around 9:30 last night and sat still a long time as we watched a single line of cars come over the bridge, until finally a pilot car let us go back. It made us about a half an hour to 45 minutes later than we would’ve been otherwise,” said Jim Crump, a Tybee Island visitor.

It’s an especially frustrating situation to get caught up in at any time, but especially after a five-hour drive on vacation.

“We have a six and a seven-year-old, and they were just like, ‘Are we there yet? Are we there yet?’ We had just gotten Wendy’s and were ready to eat and just wanted to get to the AirBnB, and that was the last thing we wanted to see when we were trying to come in,” said Allie Crump, another visitor.

The Crumps are some of the lucky ones.

They were getting onto the island, which Tybee City Manager Shawn Gillen says, hasn’t been taking as long as getting off the island.

Gillen says he got caught up for over an hour trying to leave on Friday, and when he got to the other side of the bridge, there were very few cars.

“Their lane closure sequences were off, so everything was piling up on the island. So we called GDOT and got them to relay the message to the crews on the bridge to clear the island before they let any more cars on,” said Shawn Gillen, Tybee Island City Manager.

Still, at times on Saturday, traffic to leave the island was backed up from the Lazaretto Bridge all the way past Campbell Avenue.

Gillen says that while this is a GDOT project, not a City of Tybee project, those trying to get to and from the island need to be patient. He says the future bridge replacement project will benefit everyone who enjoys Tybee in the long run.

“When you see bicycles on Lazaretto Creek Bridge now, it’s a scary situation. And pedestrians. And if there’s an accident on the bridge, that’s a real concern that we have. The new bridges will allow us to get somebody off the island, even if there is an accident,” said Gillen.

Work is expected to continue this weekend and hopefully be completed by Tuesday.

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