NATCHEZ — Plans for an assisted living facility on John R. Junkin Drive are scheduled to be presented for approval by the Natchez Planning Commission July 1.

City Planner Frankie Legaux said the commission expects to review a request to rezone the property to allow the facility and a site plan prepared by Natchez architects Waycaster & Associates for developer Gayle Evans.

The city denied a request to rezone the property in 2009 putting a halt to Evans’ plan to build an assisted living facility on the site.

The 2009 rezoning request, which City Planner Frankie Legaux said was filled out by the City of Natchez, sought a change from R-1 residential to a special use district.

The planning commission recommended approval of the change, but the Natchez Board of Aldermen rejected the zoning change.

The new request, Legaux said, is to rezone the property R-3 mixed density residential, which would allow for the facility to be built. Other permitted uses for R-3 include condominiums, child care centers, art galleries, museums and others, according to the city’s development code.

Evans has owned the property approximately 32 years and also developed nearby Glenburney Nursing Home and Adams County Nursing Center.

The property is near the Glenwood Subdivision, and several residents of the subdivision appeared before the board of aldermen in 2009 protesting the rezoning of the property.

Ward 3 Alderwoman Sarah Smith, who lives in Glenwood and in whose ward the property is located, said she recently received calls from other Glenwood residents concerned about the potential development.

Smith organized a meeting last week for concerned residents, the project’s architect, Johnny Waycaster, City Attorney Hyde Carby and Legaux so residents could ask questions and voice their concerns.

Smith said residents were concerned about an increase of traffic to the area.

“Traffic is a big concern,” she said. “The traffic from the bridge does U-turn in front of the road (to the subdivision), and it seems to have gotten pretty bad,” she said. “With delivery trucks and visitors (to the facility) trying to turn into the facility, residents are concerned about additional traffic issues.”

Residents also asked, Smith said, whether the Mississippi Department of Transportation could install a turn lane that would allow eastbound drivers to turn directly into the facility’s lot instead of making a U-turn.

Residents were also concerned about being able to see the proposed three-story building from their residential properties, Smith said.

Legaux said the development plans includes a three-story facility and a one-story dining center. It has been scaled back, she said, from the five- or six-story building Evans first proposed in 2009.

Smith said she believes the neighborhood meeting was productive in that it allowed residents to air their concerns.

“I just thought it was a smart idea to update the neighborhood,” she said. “Now whatever goes before the planning commission, I think it all depends on the zoning.”

The planning commission will hear the application for the assisted living facility at a specially called meeting at 5:15 p.m. July 1 in the Natchez City Council Chambers.

The commission will then make a recommendation for approval or denial of the application to the board of aldermen, which will make the final decision.