NATCHEZ — Worley-Brown, LLC, has decided to appeal the state’s decision not to grant the developers a permit to build condominiums on the bluff.

Mississippi Department of Archives and History attorney Harold Pizzetta said they are in the very beginnings of the process to hear an appeal.

He said for an appeal to be filed in this particular agency, permission for an appeal must be made first.

Worley-Brown was denied the building permit in September 2007.

Tim Waycaster, attorney for Worley-Brown, said that because of MDAH, appeals aren’t granted automatically.

“This type of appeal is not an appeal of right, meaning you don’t automatically get an appeal if you want one.”

More than a month ago, Pizzetta said, Worley-Brown filed the pleading with the court.

Pizzetta said the response to the pleading stated that the developers were entitled to have an appeal. The response was filed on Jan. 14.

Now, he said, the court will look to see if it is proper to have an appeal. Pizzetta said the judge over this appeal is likely to agree it is proper.

After that, Worley-Brown is required to file a brief for the appeal within two weeks to a month.

Waycaster said MDAH would also be required to file a brief as well.

The hearing will take place in the Hinds County Circuit Court.

Waycaster said the court may or may not ask for oral arguments.

The length of time it will take for the court to make its decision is unknown.

“Hinds Circuit is a busy court and I don’t know how quickly the court will get around to hearing it,” Waycaster said.

He said it would not take a year for the appeal to be heard, however.

Once it is heard, Waycaster said the court could go two ways if it were rule in favor of Worley-Brown.

“The court has the option of deciding the case in a way that would just order that the permit be issued,” Waycaster said was the first. “The court also has the option of ruling in their favor and sending it back to (MDAH) for further consideration.”

Waycaster said he is confident that the court will rule in favor of the first option.

“We believe that (the) facts justify the court issuing an order that orders (MDAH) to issue the permit,” he said. “We think that the circumstances are such that we would not have to go back to (MDAH.)”

The decision that led to the rejection of a permit began long ago.

First, the permit committee of MDAH required the developers to meet certain conditions in order to gain a permit to develop.

A safety issue arose in the geotechnical survey the developers were compelled to conduct, causing MDAH to deny the developers a permit.

Waycaster said engineers that Worley-Brown was told to use by MDAH conducted the geotechnical survey and that an engineer came before the board of trustees of MDAH at the permit hearing and said there was no legitimate safety issue.

The technical staff at MDAH voted unanimously, 7-0, in their recommendation to the board in granting Worley-Brown a permit, Waycaster.

“We were told that it would be essentially unprecedented that the board would turn down a unanimous recommendation,” he said.

The developer is also waiting to hear the decision on another appeal.

“There is still the appeal pending at the Mississippi Supreme Court,” Waycaster said.

A citizen’s group who questioned the city’s decision to give Worley-Brown the deed to the land, Waycaster said, filed this particular appeal.

“That was appealed to the circuit in Adams County, they ruled in favor of the city and Worley-Brown,” he said.

The decision was appealed again by the citizens and moved to the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Waycaster said the appeal has been fully briefed and they are just waiting on the decision.

“We expect a ruling soon in that case and we can expect that to be in the city’s favor,” he said.