BEAUFORT -- Beaufort County officials and an area conservation group have moved closer to appealing a Circuit Court judge's ruling allowing a new north-area high school to be built.

The Coastal Conservation League, a Charleston-based nonprofit environmental group, filed an intent to appeal the ruling in the state Appellate Court on Wednesday. County Council Chairman Weston Newton also informed council members Wednesday night that county officials will file a notice of intent to appeal today, one day before the deadline to file the notice, which reserves a right to appeal.

Voters approved a north-area high school in a 2000 bond referendum. But the school remains unbuilt due to battles over student population numbers, the threat of development in the rural Dale area, lack of opportunities for students and the proposed school site's proximity to a chemical plant.

Last month, Judge Jackson V. Gregory overturned a county zoning board's October rejection of the school district's request to build the school on Keans Neck Road in the Dale Community Preservation District.

The conservation group filed a petition to intervene in the May 5 Circuit Court hearing. Gregory denied the petition, which the group also is appealing.

The Circuit Court's written order ignored most of the zoning board's arguments against the school, said Jacki Martin, a staffer for the league's Charleston office and the former director of its Beaufort branch.

Martin said the judge's reasoning contradicts the standard of review, especially concerning the school's compliance with the county's comprehensive plan and the public health issues related to the school's proximity to a chemical plant.

Furthermore, the argument that the zoning board misidentified the property containing the proposed school site is untrue according to records, she said.

"If the Coastal Conservation League has a legal leg to stand on, I'm sure the court will give them a fair hearing," said John Williams, the district's assistant superintendent for information services and operations.

Whether the county will appeal the decision remains to be seen, but it is reserving the right to appeal should the full council vote to do so.

The council probably will discuss whether to appeal in a closed session after its regular meeting on Monday, county administrator Gary Kubic said.

The Beaufort County Board of Education is expected to vote Tuesday on how to proceed with plans for the school. Its planning consultant has reported declining student population numbers for the area from which the school's students would come.