Be optimistic, but realistic, on the sale of the port

Port Royal may finally have good news about developing the locked and chained port property that has been idle and ugly for years.

The key word is “may.”

Even though a celebration was planned for Friday night at a gate to the old port site, a lot can happen on the way to the closing table. And the town has been jilted before.

The property on Battery Creek is envisioned as a place for single-family homes, businesses, a park and a 250-slip marina. In other words, it is seen as a new and improved Port Royal, a proud community that traces its roots to 1562.

And it almost seems that it was 1562 when this saga started.

In truth, it was 2004 when the legislature ordered the S.C. State Ports Authority to sell the shuttered port. A plan for future development of the 317-acre site with 51 acres of high ground was approved by the town, with much public input. But the ports authority never sold it. Three times, deals fell apart. The ports authority secretive throughout. The public never saw its appraisal, for example, even as bidders and others claimed it was too high.

Finally, the legislature yanked the task from the ports authority. Last year, it was turned over to the state Department of Administration’s General Services division to sell it.

Last week, the state said it had a successful bidder, but it would not say who it was or the amount of the bid.

Deals on the public sale of public property should be public.

That secrecy is one reason the public cannot and should not trust anything about the transfer of the port land until the sale is closed, if then.

Thirteen years of secrecy is too much for the public to bear. It has chipped away at the credibility of the seller.

We remain hopeful that a sale will take place, opening the beautiful waterfront to the public and expanding the town’s tax base.

We are optimistic that a closing will happen this time because the $6.95 million appraised value used for the latest bidding was sharply lower than it was under the ports authority failed process.

Still, a closing is not expected until early August.

Meanwhile, the town can shore up its plans to avoid the parking pitfalls of Bluffton and Beaufort.

And keep its fingers crossed.

This story was originally published April 7, 2017 at 4:57 PM with the headline "Be optimistic, but realistic, on the sale of the port."