Representatives from Lane Company, planning to build a riverfront development and casino under Roth Hill, got approval from the Mississippi Gaming Commission Thursday to start planning.

“Today’s meeting was the first of three approvals in the site plan approval process,” Lane Development Associate Ted Doody said. “Essentially what today’s step did was to verify that the zone for gaming was correct.

“They’re basically making sure no churches or schools are adjacent to the casino.”

The commission examined the preliminary site plan and approved the location of the vessel and parking, Doody said.

“They approved everything,” he said. “They really didn’t have any significant questions or comments at all.”

The city awarded the Roth Hill land lease to Lane Company in December. Along with a casino, the company plans to create a park in which residents can spend time.

Mayor Philip West and some aldermen attended the hearing in Jackson.

“We were there to support them and be in a position to answer any questions (the commission) might have had of the city,” West said.

The city officials met with Lane representatives after the hearing, too, West said.

“We were talking about the process and what the requirements are as it relates to overall development,” he said. “We got more familiar with the process. This is the first step, but it is the most important step.”

The next move is to begin designing specific aspects of the project, Doody said.

“Now, we really start getting into the details of the design work,” Doody said. “We’ve been told our overall concept works, now we can proceed to work out the details of the design.”

That should happen over the next month or two, he said. The process will involve various architects, from naval architects to landscape architects.

After that, the company will go back to the commission and get the specific plan approved. After the design is completed and they prove they have financial backing, the third step will be getting approval to proceed.

“I think this is evidence of commitment to the project and making the city of Natchez a better place,” Doody said. “A lot of the questions (at Thursday’s meeting) focused around what can we do with the land that’s a benefit to Natchez.”