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"We seek staff assistance to shape what we see as appropriate development for the area should this transition occur," Port Royal Mayor Sam Murray said during a Friday afternoon press conference in Port Royal.
Flanked by the rest of the Town Council, state Rep. Catherine Ceips, R-Beaufort, and Dick Stewart, who on Tuesday was elected to the Beaufort County Council District 11 seat representing Port Royal, Murray said he wants the port to become a "positive economic vehicle for the town and the county."
During state budget hearings Thursday, Sanford called for the S.C. Ports Authority to close the local port, which attracts about 20 ships a year and lost $58,000 last year.
The governor said the land should either be sold outright or used as part of a joint venture between the state and a private developer.
The decision on what to do with the land will be made by the Ports Authority with help from the governor's office and local officials. Whatever the decision, future development of the property will fall under the town's zoning regulations.
But town officials say they want to make sure the property also will add to the town's tax base.
"I would like for it to remain in the hands of Port Royal," Town Councilwoman Yvonne Butler said. "We have had visions about this for a long time on what we could do with the port."
Town officials wouldn't speculate on what kind of development they'd like to see on the port property.
"We'll work on the master plan and lay it out when the time comes," Murray said, adding that town officials are talking with private consultants about developing a plan. "While we've got the ball rolling we need to keep after it."
Closing the port would require an act of the General Assembly and Ceips said she's been working on drafting the appropriate legislation.
Ceips said the legislation would only close the port, while future decisions on what to do with the land wouldn't be made until state and local officials complete a long-range plan.
"Not only is this port not efficiently spending taxpayer dollars at the state level, its very presence is in fact holding the town back," she said.
In 2002, the port handled only 168,000 tons of cargo, 54 percent less than the 364,153 tons it processed in 1999.
"I think it will be an economic boon for that area," Ceips said.
Earlier on Friday, state Sen. Scott Richardson, R-Hilton Head Island, said the Port of Port Royal issue is something he's been working on for the past year.
"We've been working on this thing for about a year and it's amazing that all of a sudden it's getting all this action," he said. "It's only been over the last two or three months we got the feeling that we were ready to do something about it."
Richardson said the state Ports Authority only recently "came to the conclusion (the Port of Port Royal) is something they're not prepared to use in the future."
Beaufort County's senior legislator said a measure to close the port is something he considers local legislation and should pass through both legislative houses without much debate.
"I don't see anybody making a big deal about it," Richardson said. "It's in our backyard and if it's something that's agreeable to the people of Beaufort County and the people of Port Royal, I don't think it's something anybody else would get in the middle of."
The legislator said a master plan should be developed with plenty of input from area residents.
"I'd love to have a comprehensive plan for that whole port area," Richardson said. "If we're going to let it be developed, lets make sure we have a good comprehensive plan that makes sense for the people of that area.
"There's some development that could be great for that area but then there may be some things the people don't want at all," he added.
Port Royal Town Councilman Vernon DeLoach said closing the port is well over due.
"Why do we have the port if all we're going to get is the dust and the noise," he said. "É It's time to close it."
