PORT ROYAL -- While Port Royal officials see shutting down the state port here as an opportunity to shape development of prime waterfront property in the heart of town, the president of the State Ports Authority said the agency probably would hold onto the property even if the operation closes.

After Gov. Mark Sanford suggested recently that the Ports Authority close the small port, town officials began talking about other uses for the 22 acres.

Town officials plan to have residents work with consultants to develop a master plan for the property, Town Manager Van Willis said.

"We certainly hope to have some sort of concrete idea as to what we would like to see happen on the property in the near future," Willis said.

But there's a good chance that the town won't control the property even if the port shuts down.

The Ports Authority probably would maintain at least partial ownership, said Bernard S. Groseclose Jr., the authority's president and chief executive officer.

"The thought had been to retain some control over the property," Groseclose said. "It probably will not be direct developing, but working with developers to see things through so we have continued revenue stemming from the port property."

The port attracts only about 20 ships a year and last year lost $58,000.

But the Ports Authority has multiyear contracts with different cargo accounts, which would have to be protected, Groseclose said.

Environmental assessments of the property, which has been used for heavy industry for more than 100 years, also would have to be done.

"I would certainly not expect that you will see the port closing down overnight," he said. "That is not the way to develop an asset like that."

The Ports Authority would work with the town of Port Royal on a comprehensive plan to determine the best way to develop the property, Groseclose said, but he wouldn't "hazard a guess" as to what should happen.

"That would depend on discussions with the town and looking at what they feel would be the best use of the property," he said.

While town officials and residents will be glad to see the port go, they also want the town, or Beaufort County, to control the property, not the Ports Authority.

"I don't really want to see it go in anyone else's hands," Port Royal Councilwoman Yvonne Butler said. "I am just praying that it happens and that the port goes under our control and our ordinances."