Port Royal officials say they're disappointed by an environmental watchdog's plans to sue over the town's expansion into southern Beaufort County, adding that they would have been willing to meet with the agency to elude the pending legal battle.

The Port Royal Town Council annexed the 105-acre Mobley tract near the Chechessee River in March, allowing a developer to build up to 250 homes, despite opposition from Beaufort County residents, county officials and environmental leaders who questioned whether the plan would increase traffic on S.C. 170, harm waterways and marshland and boost property taxes.

In a final attempt to stop the annexation, the Coastal Conservation League, along with three Port Royal residents, David Peterson, Yvonne Peterson and David Kell, filed notice this month at the Beaufort County Courthouse that they intend to sue the town, developer Lyttleton Partners and the Mobley tract's owners, Donna Mobley Carter, Sara Franklin and Alice M. Hetrick, within 30 days.

"The objective is to determine and see if it is legal or not," said Coastal Conservation League board member and lawyer Trenholm Walker. "We are going to have to wait and see what happens. If the annexation is legal the town and its owners don't have anything to worry about."

The environmental watchdog is claiming that the town's annexation of the tract is illegal because the land is not close enough to Rose Island, also part of the town. But town officials say the annexation is legal and maintain that they have worked hard to address concerns about traffic and the environment.

The town's annexation legal issues have been ongoing since the 2000 annexation of Rose Island, which allowed Port Royal to cross into southern Beaufort County. A lawsuit contesting that annexation was filed by Beaufort County and ended last year, with the S.C. Supreme Court ruling in the town's favor.

"That was a different case, on different facts, on a different record," Walker said of the Supreme Court's ruling.

Port Royal Mayor Sam Murray said the town has worked with the environmental group and residents to address concerns associated with the Mobley tract.

"I'm sorry they decided to do that," he said of the pending lawsuit. "We have tried to address their concerns and the concerns of citizens of the town."

Walker said challenging the annexation is part of protecting the environment because developing the Mobley tract could harm the surrounding communities. But the mayor said he would have been willing to meet with the group's leaders to prevent the lawsuit.

"We will have to go though the legal system, but I would have preferred to avoid that because I don't like spending taxpayers' money on lawyers," he said. "It is now in the hands of lawyers."

Town Council members Mary Beth Heyward, Henry Robinson and Joe Lee wouldn't comment last week on the pending lawsuit. But Town Councilman Vernon DeLoach said he doesn't think the lawsuit will prevail.

"I don't thing it is going anywhere," he said. "The county has already sued us for the same thing. Why are they doing it? They are wasting their time."