Port Royal property dispute heats up. Developers and residents lock horns on access

Benji Gecy uses a magnetic nail sweeper on the road in front of his Port Royal house before he gets in his car to leave for the day. In two sweeps, he has collected more than 200 nails and screws. Friends and family won’t visit his home because of the risk of flat tires.

Access to the roads leading to the Gecy’s house are at the heart of a heated dispute between homeowners and a developer who claims the rights to the land under the roads.

Gecy’s family home was on a property shaded by live oak trees overlooking Battery Creek. The idyllic location attracted Benji and Christina Gecy to the Belleview Bluff subdivision in Port Royal but their life has since turned into a nightmare. In May of 2021, they moved in and were soon met by construction workers who began staking the boundaries of the property across the street. By November, trees were being cleared in preparation for the construction of more than 200 apartments.

Christina Gecy said in November, a man drove up to the her house. She thought he was a neighbor stopping to make an introduction. He introduced himself as the construction superintendent from LandSouth Construction of Jacksonville, Florida and his message to her was “Just wanted to let you know we are building apartments across the street.’”

Today, instead of enjoying the views and peace and quiet, the Gecys and their neighbors now stare up at row upon row of apartment homes that dwarf their single-family homes. Each day, to reach the highway or return home, they must drive roughly a quarter mile through the massive construction project, sharing narrow roads with impatient big rig operators. Construction vehicles rumble past on the street in front of their house daily. Trash, including toilet paper from a nearby outdoor biffies, blows across their yard.

The Gecys say that their $1.5 million property with stunning views of Battery Creek has, in effect, been absorbed into a 200-unit luxury apartment complex, placing them in a dangerous construction zone. The value of their property has since plummeted $400,000 to $1.1 million.

Houses are landlocked

While they have complaints about living in a construction zone, the Gecys’ main beef is over the roads and access to their house, which they claim have been taken from them by the apartment developers. They are forced to weave through the construction traffic to leave their home. Even emergency responders sometimes have difficulty finding addresses because of the changes, they say.

In a lawsuit filed in Beaufort County 14th Judicial District, the Gecys argue, implied easements dating to 1959 when their little subdivision was platted, gave them and their neighbors the right to use two roads. That land is now owned by Integra at Battery Creek LLC. Integra is developing the $70 million, 215-unit apartment complex. An easement is a limited right to access land owned by somebody else like a road. An implied easement is based on continuous use of the access road over time.

But those easements, the Gecys claim, are not recognized in the plat that was filed and later used by Integra during the permitting process of the apartment project. The road in front of their home, now in use by construction vehicles, will be open to thousands of future apartment residents.

The Gecys describe it as “plat manipulation.”

“This is just a taking of property rights for development,” Benji Gecy said one day last week standing in his driveway as a large bucket loader rumbled up the dirt street.

The Gecy’s claims are denied by Integra, which says it is, in fact, improving access to the area.

“They (the Gecys) want to control what’s being done on somebody else’s property,” Ian Ford, a Charleston-based attorney representing Integra. “They don’t own it. They do have a right to come and go. No one denies that.”

Integra, he says, has paved one road and shifted the location of the second and has a right to do that because the developer owns the land. Ford claims that Integra’s builders are voluntarily installing a privacy wall for neighbors on request and have added new water and sewer lines. Ford cites additional examples of the developers efforts including providing paved access on what had been a dirt road and the under-grounding of electrical lines.

“Integra really is endeavoring to be a good neighbor and the Gecys just disagree and that, honestly, is not uncommon in these large situations,” Ford said. “What Integra wants to do is finish the project.”

Couple wants access restored

The Gecys say they feel bullied. They want a judge to restore their exclusive access to the road in front of their house and the access road from Parris Island Gateway to their homes.

The town of Port Royal is not a party to the lawsuit. The filing names the following defendants: a subsidiary of developer Integra Land Company of Lake Mary, Florida, the former property owner Bennett McNeal Partnership, local surveyors Gasque and Associates and Fifth Third Bank which is financing the project. They all deny the lawsuit’s allegations and the case is pending.

Van Willis, the town manager of Port Royal, disputes the allegation that the town approved the project based on a “manipulated” plat. The apartment project application, he said, is in “complete compliance” and was fully vetted by the town’s design review board, which approved the project in 2019.

In Benji Gecy’s view, apartment development in the region “is kind of like the wild west right now.”

The situation at the construction site and near Gecys property has gotten tense at times.

Benji Gecy says the construction company towed away a dumpster he had parked on his property as part of a construction project at his house.

“Their behavior is incredible,” Christine Gecy says.

Port Royal police were called to the scene once after Benji Gecy pulled up “danger, construction site” signs that had been placed on his property without his permission.

The area’s 70 year history is part of the dispute

The 20-acre apartment project is one piece of 100 acres of land abutting Battery Creek that was once owned by Lewis Wright. Seven lots in Belleview Bluff were subdivided in 1959. The Gecys now own one of those lots. About 20 years ago, Bennett McNeal of Beaufort purchased the property from Wright and developed another 45 lots with homes known as Wrights Point Plantation.

Integra is now owner of the remaining land and is developing the apartments. Construction began in the winter of 2021-2022. Units are being advertised for lease as “Lowcountry living at its finest” and “the newest and most luxurious apartment community in Beaufort,” although it’s located in Port Royal.

Integra’s attorney Ford says there’s a need for moderately priced housing in the area. A 757-square-foot one-bedroom with one bath rents for $1,675 a month at the new apartments.

The Gecys are also alleging that the road along with the rest of the apartment complex property in front of their home was never annexed into the town of Port Royal, which could mean it technically remains in Beaufort County.

Willis, the Port Royal town manager, says that’s not the case. The road, along with the apartment property, was properly annexed into the town of Port Royal in 1997. The planned unit development that was laid out for the entire area always included the potential for apartments to be constructed. “I would do my due diligence if I was buying something,” Willis said.

Wasn’t aware of apartments

The Gecys acquired their home in the original Belleview Bluff Subdivision in May 2021, before construction of the apartments began. They put the home in a trust for their family.

Benji Gecy, a real estate broker, said he was not aware that apartments were planned for the area when he finalized the purchase of the property. Regardless, he said, “I knew that I had private access and had roads to access my home.”

In December 2022, the Gecys filed the lawsuit. A motion for a temporary injunction followed in July 2023. “I’m really anxious to get in there and let the judge see the evidence on what’s going on out there,” Benji Gecy says.

Hope for a resolution

Bennett McNeil of Bennett McNeil partnership, a former property owner who is named in the lawsuit, says a road easement was originally planned along the property boundary so the seven Bellevue Bluff property owners could reach their lots from the main highway. That was long before he purchased the land, he said. What ended up happening, however, is that the homeowners in the subdivision began cutting directly through the Wright property, where the apartments are now under construction, to reach their houses.

The residents, McNeal says, still have access to their property. It will just be shaped a little differently. “I just hope everybody can get along and it turns out good for everybody,” McNeal says.

The Gecys also claim that the developer has taken control of some open space that they claim was reserved for use by the residents of the Belleview Bluff lots created in 1959.

In Gecy’s view, control of the open space and Roberta Lane, which are both along the water, has allowed the project to be advertised as waterfront living making it more lucrative.

A large construction site is always challenging for the contractor, developer and neighbors, said attorney Ford. Integra has worked well with most of the neighbors, he said, but “the Gecys take exception to what is being done.”

The Gecys also have filed complaints with the South Carolina Occupational Safety and Health Administration about safety concerns they say they’ve witnessed during the construction. Recently, a worker at the construction site was killed after being pinned under a large vehicle.