Mayor Phillip West has asked Clifton James, an urban planner based in New Orleans, to develop a comprehensive plan for developing not only the Natchez riverfront, but also the rest of downtown.

&uot;We’re trying not to develop (downtown) in a piecemeal manner,&uot; West said.

Earlier this year, West said James was to soon begin work on a revamped plan for developing the Roth Hill riverfront site as well as blufftop properties owned by the city.

But last week, West said James &045; who could not be reached for comment Saturday &045; will also include in his comprehensive plan ideas for bringing more retail and housing developments to downtown.

&uot;Also, we want to look at our empty historical buildings, ways to purchase and renovate those,&uot; West said.

&uot;That’s what some of the $10 million we were requesting from the Legislature would have been used for.&uot;

West was referring to a request that died during this year’s sessions of the Legislature.

He said the city will ask legislators to resubmit the request for the 2006 regular session.

West said he did not know as of last week when James’ plan will be completed.

Meanwhile, the city still has on its Web site (www.natchez.ms.us) a color booklet for developers curious about the city’s 5.3-acre Roth Hill site and the proposed hotel site, now a 1.7-acre unpaved parking lot across Canal Street from the convention center. The package includes maps, some brief descriptions of the property and photos of the riverfront and the individual sites themselves.

In addition, West said he wants aldermen and tourism officials to meet soon to iron out more ways to market the Roth Hill site and the hotel site to prospective developers.

&uot;My hope is that they’ll sit down and talk about marketing those sites,&uot; West said in an interview last week.

Much is at stake. Millions of dollars in state funds and about $20,000 from the city itself have been spent on riverfront improvements at Roth Hill.

Starting in 1998 and ending in 2001, the U.S. Corps of Engineers supervised a more than $28 million bluff stabilization project that included the area from Clifton Avenue to Silver Street.

That amount included a $3.2 million match and $1.5 million in additional grants from the State of Mississippi, with the rest coming from federal funds.

And $838,500 in funds left over from bluff stabilization work was used to pave Roth Hill Road, build sidewalks and install utility lines, streetlights and guard rails.

The city has spent more than $20,000 on the riverfront, including some erosion control work.

That amount also includes studies to determine developments suitable for the riverfront and parking and street changes that would be needed to accommodate that growth.