Port Royal's push to recreate its waterfront moved forward Wednesday as the Town Council agreed that its staff will find room for two town-owned parks as part of the redevelopment of the Port of Port Royal.

Mayor Sam Murray said it was important to approve the recommendation that came down from the town's redevelopment commission a night earlier, so officials can begin to focus on creating a development agreement that will serve as a guide for the 57-acre waterfront property.

"I think if we deny (the recommendation) we are going to hold up the process," Murray said.

"This property has to be sold by Dec. 31. The development agreement still has to be done. I don't want to hold up the process because we are running out of time."

Councilman Henry Robinson agreed with the mayor.

"I'd like to see it get developed to (the town's) standards," he said. "The deadline is coming, and we have to get moving."

Legislation signed by the governor calls for the state port to be closed and sold off to a private developer by the end of the year, but the town and the S.C. State Ports Authority have to come up with a development agreement for the property before that can be done.

After weeks of delay, the town's redevelopment commission said Tuesday night that town staff should decide where a 6.23 acre and 2.23 acre park should be built as part of the development. The commission also said the town should own that park land.

Also Wednesday the Town Council tabled a request for an annexation and rezoning of 2.43 acres on Lemon Island that could bring a 150-slip dry-stack marina and 9,600 square feet of commercial space.

Many Okatie residents at Wednesday's meeting protested the annexation and rezoning proposal, and council members advised the owners, Lemon Island Marina Group, to make changes that include scaling back the density of the marina.

C.E. Malphrus said the residents are not against a marina, but they don't want what is being proposed.

"We would like to see a nice looking marina without a 60-foot high looking billboard," he said. "We just don't want something over developed."

The Beaufort-Port Royal Joint Municipal Planning Commission on Monday gave a positive recommendation to rezone the land, despite receiving protests from Okatie residents who had concerns about density, traffic and runoff.

Lemon Island Marina Group is requesting the annexation and rezoning as a planned unit development, which allows town officials to negotiate items such as building height, density and open space.

The council also unanimously denied a request from four homeowners on Columbia Avenue to rezone their property into the town's overlay district. The council voted 4-1 to deny another homeowner at 1113 13th St. access into the district. Murray voted in favor of that rezoning.

The overlay district, which is spread throughout the downtown area, has strict architectural standards that include rules on the type of siding, windows and roofing used. The zoning also reduces lot sizes for certain homes, which means more homes could be built per acre.