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Port Royal plans make U-turn at governor's desk

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Preliminary plans for the redevelopment of the Port of Port Royal have reached Gov. Mark Sanford's desk but were sent back to the S.C. State Ports Authority with concerns, a spokesman for the governor's office said Monday.

State legislation requires the Ports Authority to close the 40-acre port property by the end of next year. But while Port Royal has finished drawing up its proposed development plan for the port site, the Ports Authority has not released or hinted at its plans.

"From the beginning of this process, the governor has said the redevelopment should be balanced with green space," Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer said Monday. "When Ports Authority appointees showed the plan to the governor, the amount of green space came into question."

Sawyer wouldn't put a timetable on when the governor had seen the plans, only saying it had been "recently."

Harry Butler, chairman of the State Ports Authority board of directors, wouldn't comment Monday on the state's redevelopment plans for the port site.

"I've had conversations with (Port Royal Mayor Sam Murray) on two occasions, and that's all I'll say about that," he said.

Ports Authority officials planned to meet with the town in October, then November, to share their vision for the waterfront acreage.

In the absence of state input, the town's Port Redevelopment Commission met Monday night to discuss available options. The commission originally formed in 2004 to form a conceptual plan for the property.

"(Butler) said the plan was completed and that he had shared it with the governor," Murray said Monday night. "The governor had some corrections to the plan, and as soon as (Butler) gets the governor's blessing, he's going to call me."

Sanford signed a bill in September 2004 allowing the Ports Authority to "determine the manner of the sale" of the port property, which must be completed by the end of 2006, except for parcels under "long-term contract."

Word also came down from the governor's office Monday that attorney Colden Battey, a partner in the Beaufort law firm Harvey and Battey, is expected to take Tom Davis' spot on the ports board today at the agency's meeting in Charleston.

When contacted Monday, Battey, a past chairman of the Beaufort County Council, wouldn't discuss pending Ports Authority projects or the agency's plan for Port Royal, but said he's eager to jump in, starting with today's meeting.

"I've heard everyone else's criticisms, but I need to find them out firsthand," he said. "I appreciate the governor's appointment and look forward to working with the Ports Authority and the people of Port Royal."

Davis was appointed to the State Ports Authority in 2004 after stepping down as Sanford's senior policy adviser and co-chief of staff, but will return to the governor's office on Jan. 3, this time as deputy chief of staff for legislative affairs and policy.

"I think the most important thing is that Colden gets on (the State Ports Authority board) and shoots straight with us," said Port Royal Town Councilman Vernon DeLoach. "He is our representative and we don't need any of that, 'We can't talk about it right now.'<2009>"

Port Royal hired private firm Design Collective to come up with a port redevelopment plan in July 2004, three months before Sanford signed the legislation closing the port. The town's $80,000 plan is based on community input and took six weeks to complete.

The port property provides an abrupt and gated ending to Paris Avenue, Port Royal's main downtown artery, but under the town plan, the city grid is expanded to the waterfront.

"Our best interest is a single developer for the property," said redevelopment commission member Bob Bender.

Because it is state owned, the town does not collect tax revenue from the property, and the estimated price of the land, pegged by town officials at between $12 million and $40 million, has been ruled to be beyond what the small town could afford.

With private, tax-paying businesses on the property, town officials estimate at least an extra $1 million in annual revenue.

Port Royal Town Manager Van Willis and the redevelopment commission want to draft a development agreement for the land with regulations on densities, number of units, commercial footage and fee structures based on the town's conceptual plan and State Ports Authority input.

Phil Fairbanks, chairman of the redevelopment commission, sent a letter dated Dec. 5 to Butler asking him to consider a joint development agreement.

"What we're attempting to do is jump-start the process," Willis said Monday. "Dec. 31, 2006, is going to be here a lot sooner than folks anticipated, and with the considerable interest we've seen in the property, there is no doubt in our minds it could have been sold by now."

Contact Michael R. Shea at 298-1057 or .

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