Zoning plans for the Port of Port Royal, which officials said will reconnect Port Royal to the waterfront, won approval from the Beaufort-Port Royal Joint Municipal Planning Commission on Monday, the first time the proposal was released to the public.

The plan calls for development of 50.88 acres owned by the S.C. State Ports Authority and divides the area into three sections on Battery Creek and the western and southern edges of the town: a residential area in the northwest, a marina district near the existing Dockside Seafood restaurant and a denser mix of commercial and residential to the southwest.

Commission members expressed the most concern with a proposed hotel standing 58 feet tall at the southern end of Paris Avenue and with building height in general. They approved the overall zoning plan with caveats, including reducing permissible building heights to those accepted by residents in an earlier plan and ensuring that architecture is properly reviewed before building begins.

The commission expressed both concern for the imminent deadline on the property's sale and security in the fact that other agencies would be reviewing the plan to cover anything it missed.

A 2004 state law requires the Ports Authority to finalize a plan for the property and sell it by the end of this year.

The plan adds housing for 480 people in a mix of single-family detached houses, single-family attached townhouses and duplexes and condominiums above commercial space. It also calls for hotel space for 140 people, 90,000 square feet for non-residential use and a marina with up to 400 slips.

It also sets aside about 15 acres of parks and open space, including an 11-acre park at the southern end of London Avenue. Parks an acre in size are included in the northern residential area and near the hotel at the southern end of Paris Avenue. A waterfront walkway will span the Battery Creek banks along all three sections of the property and extend to the existing boardwalk to The Sands.

A new street, Battery Creek Avenue, will run along the property's western edge and Battery Creek.

The area will be zoned a planned unit development, meaning that unlike basic residential, commercial or mixed-use classifications, town planners will have flexibility to be specific in what they will allow to be built, whether in terms of what kinds of businesses may be present and what kind of look a building can have. Commission member Louis Bruce questioned the need to stray from the traditional zoning categories, however, saying the residents are happy with traditional zoning and officials are familiar in working with it.

"If we continue (traditional) zoning into the property, we know we're going to have consistency," Bruce said. With the planned unit development, he said, "you could have a totally different look when you cross the street."

Town Planning Administrator Linda Bridges assured Bruce that review of specific projects before they are built and regulations on all buildings in the town regardless of zoning would prevent that from happening. Mark Baker, a planner with Wood and Partners of Hilton Head Island, which worked with town officials to create the plan, added that the planned unit development zoning allows town officials and developers to work together flexibly but respects plans for land use.

Bruce also disputed the plan's specifications for building height -- a maximum of 52 feet for condominium buildings in the residential area, 50 feet around the marina and 58 feet in the southern mixed-use area. He said there is already an "ongoing battle" to keep building heights below 40 feet in the town.

The hotel, which is planned to be built on the foundation of Port Royal Cement at the end of Paris Avenue, could approach 70 feet, Bruce added, since the pier it would sit on is 6 feet high and an elevator shaft or gardens could extend its roof.

The previous plan, formed by Design Collective with input from residents in 2004, sets height limits of two stories in the residential area, two to three stories around the marina and three to four stories in the downtown area.

Baker assured the commission that the plan allows only for what is possible but doesn't build anything itself and that town officials will have control in approving specific projects once developers start coming in.

The commission's approval of the document sends it to the Port Royal Town Council, where it will face a first reading Oct. 11.