Safe Harbor Marinas can move forward with redevelopment of Port of Port Royal
By Scott Graber
The Island News
On Wednesday, Feb. 12, the Town of Port Royal announced that it had reached a settlement with SHM Port Royal a/k/a Safe Harbor.
After an executive session that lasted 30 minutes, Town Council voted 3-0 to approve a settlement reached earlier this month after two marathon mediations in Columbia.
The disagreements between Safe Harbor and Port Royal officially began on Dec. 14, 2023, when Mayor Kevin Phillips wrote a six-page, single-spaced letter to Peter Clark at Safe Harbor.
The letter laid out the Town’s objections to the huge cranes and the fabrication of concrete docks then underway at the site. It also objected to the apparent decision to develop the Bluff Neighborhood as “build to rent.” There were also problems surrounding the location of the proposed easement for the Spanish Moss (Bicycle) Trail.
On March 20, 2024 the Town of Port Royal filed a Petition asking that the Court of Common Pleas grant a permanent and temporary injunction prohibiting Safe Harbor from using certain parts of its newly acquired property for “dock manufacturing”.
In it’s Petition, the Town alleged that the original Planned Unit Development Agreement dated Aug. 9, 2017, and thereafter amended, allowed commercial, retail, light industrial, among other uses, but the “Respondent began using the Property for the manufacture of large floating docks, an activity requiring large scale machinery and equipment …”
between the Town of Port Royal and Safe Harbor Marinas. Amber Hewitt/The Island News
The settlement reached with Safe Harbor will give that company an 18-month-long permit to build its docks (and related structures) on the site.
It will cap the rental units throughout the project, including the Bluff properties, at 15%. Also, “Rental Units shall not include multi-level apartments or condominium developments, which shall be prohibited in the Residential Areas.”
It will give Safe Harbor five “townhouse lots” adjacent the Shed in exchange for what is called the “Beer Garden property” adjacent Sands Beach which is currently being used as a parking lot.
Safe Harbor will sign and deliver a 16-foot-wide easement that will allow the Spanish Moss Trail to cross over Ribaut Road and extend south along the old railroad right of way to Ritter Circle.
Safe Harbor will be allowed to maintain eight “Conex boxes” that will be screened from public view in order to service large, ocean-going sailboats.
There is still lingering concern about some items — like where the waterfront promenade will begin and end — that have yet to be worked out. But Mayor Kevin Phillips confirmed that “there will be a promenade and Safe Harbor will produce a Master Plan detailing all of the intended improvements within six months.”
Dean Moss, Executive Director of the Friends of the Spanish Moss Trail, said he was happy about the settlement even though “the process had consumed five years.”
There was also discussion about the new dock that will service the seafood processing facility and the shrimp boats in the area between the Fish Camp Restaurant and the Shellring Ale Works. This dock will be designed in a way that will allow the public to access the dock and, hopefully, to view a revitalized shrimp boat fleet up close.
Town Manager Van Willis also revealed the Town’s intention to extend the existing boardwalk that would effectively double its length and, perhaps, connect it with the so-called “Sands Park” located to the north of the Sands Beach Road.
Perhaps the most important item in the settlement agreement is the requirement that the Town and Safe Harbor meet every three months “to discuss the status of development.” As mentioned herein, there are unresolved items that will require discussion and resolution. Having a meeting every 90 days — and keeping the public informed — will help.
“A lot of hard work and productive compromise has produced a solid path forward where the Town of Port Royal and the Safe Harbor Marinas teams can work in unison on proposed development plans including providing an easement to extend the Spanish Moss Trail, a land swap to provide additional land to the Town, and residential development concessions. If approved by the Port Royal Town Council, the proposed settlement agreement establishes regular, joint meetings between the Town and Safe Harbor Marinas. We are grateful to be part of the Port Royal community, and we look forward to working together,” said Ron Gift, Regional Vice President, Safe Harbor Marinas.
Scott Graber is a lawyer, novelist, veteran columnist and longtime resident of Port Royal. He can be reached at cscottgraber@gmail.com.
