An interim State Ports Authority board member has resigned his seat after receiving flak from lawmakers for touting Daniel Island as a site for future port expansion.

Greenville textile executive Mark Kent sent his resignation letter to Gov. Mark Sanford last week, about a month after the Senate held up his appointment to the ports board.

Sanford now has the chance to appoint a new board member and have him or her confirmed before the June 2 close of the legislative session.

The flap over Kent had reignited debate over expansion of the Port of Charleston.

"I felt I was a distraction to the board at this time," Kent said Tuesday. "They have important matters at hand and I felt by removing myself they could focus on those things."

What was expected to be a routine confirmation hearing for Kent before the Senate Transportation Committee on April 13 stalled when Kent questioned the ports authority's plan to sell off valuable property on Daniel Island, once proposed as the site for a new mega-port.

The Legislature passed a bill several years ago that shifted expansion to the former Naval Base in North Charleston. Daniel Island residents had complained a new terminal would create too much noise and traffic in the burgeoning community.

The ports authority now plans to sell off more than 1,300 acres on Daniel Island that it had bought and pegged for a massive 12-berth terminal. The agency is seeking permits for a smaller three-berth terminal in North Charleston.

Kent said lawmakers asked for his personal opinion on the expansion issue, and he felt compelled to speak his mind.

"I said I felt it would be shortsighted to dispose of (Daniel Island land)," Kent said Tuesday. "I felt the issue over Daniel Island had long been settled, and I felt my comments were not going to be that damaging or considered insensitive at this point in any way."

Several lawmakers said Kent's views clashed with the needs of Lowcountry residents.

"You have people who don't live near the port but who utilize the port to move manufactured goods through here," said Sen. Chip Campsen, a Charleston Republican who sits on the transportation committee. "They get pure benefits from the port, but they aren't in touch with the costs for the people who live here. I'd say (residents) want the perspective of a person who, no matter where the port is going, will think about the quality of life of people living there. I didn't see that in (Kent)."

Kent, whose Greenville company, Kent Manufacturing Co., ships goods through the Port of Charleston, has been an interim board member since Sanford appointed him in August.

He said that during that time the ports authority took several steps that effectively eliminated the possibility Daniel Island could ever be used for port expansion. Specifically, with Kent voting in favor of the move, the board sold several pieces of property in Cainhoy that would have provided the only interstate access route to the waterfront.

"That pretty much put the nail in that coffin," Kent said.

However, he said that for years he had been in favor of the so-called Global Gateway project on Daniel Island.

"I was a proponent of saying (Daniel Island) was the ideal location," said Kent, former president of the South Carolina Manufacturing Alliance. "At the time I was with the alliance and the (state) Chamber of Commerce, and that was everyone's position. That is my personal opinion and I felt it was the right thing to say when asked."

Many of those leery of new port expansion plans in North Charleston, like Councilman Bob King, said last month that they agreed the state would be shortsighted to sell the Daniel Island land and praised Kent for advocating that view.

A spokesman for Sanford's office said Tuesday the governor had accepted Kent's resignation and was "looking at his options" to appoint a new member.

Kent is one of three Sanford appointees to various state boards who have either resigned or been withdrawn in recent days.

On Friday, Sanford halted his appointment of Santee Cooper Chairman Guerry Green after it became clear the nominee would be closely scrutinized during confirmation hearings this week. On Tuesday, he withdrew another Santee Cooper board nominee, Carl Falk. The utility board is under fire over management issues.

The nine-member ports board also has had a relatively high rate of turnover in the past year. In August, Kent took the place of another textile executive, Richard Dillard Jr., who resigned amid criticism that he might have a conflict of interest representing both the port and his employer, textile maker Milliken and Co.

In November, longtime board member Buzzy Newton, president of Piggly Wiggly Carolina Co., resigned and was replaced by one-time Sanford aide and Beaufort attorney Tom Davis.

Board member John Hassell said Tuesday that most governing boards in the state are becoming accustomed to members coming and going. "So far, the (ports) board has been able to adapt and keep moving on," Hassell said.