The Port Royal Redevelopment Commission finished its consideration of the Port of Port Royal on Monday night, deciding on recommendations for building height and other issues in its second three-hour meeting in a week.

Aiming to provide insurance that future development will reflect what residents said they wanted to see, the commission approved a recommendation to add to the project's plans a 2004 document put together by Baltimore-based planning firm Design Collective.

Commission member Susan Graber suggested its inclusion, since officials have consistently referred to it and compared it to the current plans, and it is an approved part of the town's master plan. Should there be any question what is allowed to be built on the port property, it provides a reference beyond what is specified first in the port plan documents and second in the Port Royal Overlay District specifications, under which the port property will fall.

A 2004 state law requires the property be sold by Dec. 31. Construction is planned to begin in the spring, but the redevelopment may take 10 years to complete, officials have said.

The commission voted to recommend height specifications change to limit builders to a given height rather than a given number of stories. The guideline had previously allowed developers to choose whether a listed number of stories or a height measurement would be the limit.

Under the commission's recommendations, the residential area of the property would include single-family homes limited to two stories no higher than

38 feet and condominium buildings limited to four stories no higher than 50 feet. A waterfront hotel in the southernmost section of the property could be four stories no higher than 58 feet, but builders could also apply to go higher.

After three hours, Graber said she still had concerns with issues such as the size of buildings' footprints, but commission Chairman Phil Fairbanks said it couldn't be the commission's responsibility to hash out such details.

"We can't get in here and fine tune every number," he said. "I don't think it's probably perfect, but if someone comes in here to seize control, there's going to be a battle. We can't micro-manage here."

One issue the commission did not address but had alluded to was how individual development projects would be reviewed, whether by an existing body or official or by a position yet to be created or hired. Town Councilman Joe Lee said the council will have to decide the matter on its own.

Town lawyer Frances Cantwell said the town's lawyers will meet formally with S.C. State Ports Authority representatives later this week, the first time in at least a week. The two groups have not had discussions since before last week's commission and Town Council meetings, she said.