<b>By Mindy Lucas</b>

Discussions on the latest plan to develop the Whitehall property have been postponed – potentially until meetings can be held in person again.

At the Monday, May 18 meeting of the Beaufort-Town of Port Royal Metropolitan Planning Commission, Whitehall developer Sam Levin decided to withdraw the item from the agenda.

Levin wanted to give the public the opportunity to voice opinions in person if possible, commission chairman Mike Tomy said at the beginning of the meeting.

For the last few months, municipal meetings have been held virtually due to the coronavirus.

After developers for Whitehall Point Holdings LLC purchased the waterfront property across from downtown Beaufort in October of 2018 and sold nearly half of the 20-acre site to Beaufort County to develop a public park, the project stalled.

A dispute over an easement agreement erupted in 2019 which led to a lawsuit. The county has since moved on with plans to develop the park.

Current plans to develop the property owned by Whitehall Point Holdings include villas and multi-story apartment units.

In addition to a discussion over when the proposal would be taken up again, planning commission member Bill Bardenwerper asked for an updated traffic impact study in time for the next meeting.

“We will be ready for you at the June meeting,” Levin said.