JACKSON &045;&045; With a Wednesday appearance before the Mississippi Gaming Commission Florida-based developer Charles Cato has cleared two more hurdles to making a second Natchez casino, the Emerald Star, a reality.

&uot;We feel this project will only enhance the city,&uot; Cato told the commission, which approved the site and plans with little comment.

The commission approved the site of, and development plans for, the casino. Cato will submit a financing plan to the commission for approval in March or April. With the needed approvals, the casino &045;&045; to be located just south of the Mississippi River bridge &045;&045; would open by November, Cato has said.

Cato and a team of attorneys, engineers and builders showed the commission and its packed house renderings of the project.

It would include an 87,000-square-foot casino with 35,000 square feet of gaming space, including 800 slot machines and 30 table games. Although some of the 60-acre site is outside Natchez’s city limits, the casino itself will be inside the city.

The developer also plans to close a deal by April 1 to buy the adjacent Ramada Inn, which he would extensively renovate, and nearby bed-and-breakfast inn The Briars. Together the properties have almost 180 rooms.

The development would include 500 parking spaces, including spaces located at the Ramada. A three-lane road would be built adjacent to the hotel, running down to the riverfront casino site. A retaining wall will also be built above the riverfront site.

As Cato and his team spoke, several gaming principals and attorneys in the audience took notes, whispered to each other and moved to get a better view of renderings of the Emerald Star.

In any case, a few more hurdles must be cleared first to make what’s on paper a reality. The commission must still approve a financing plan and give key members of the casino’s management team its stamp of approval.

Emerald Star must also secure environmental permits as well as approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard.

It must also gain approval from the city’s Planning Commission and Zoning Board, said Dan Bland of Natchez, who is also involved with the development.

In addition to Cato and Bland, others present to make the Emerald Star’s case included representatives of Thompson Engineering, which produced the renderings; Yates Construction; and gaming attorney Scott Andress of Jackson.

Previously, Cato had talked with city officials about the possibility of locating a casino at the city-owned Roth Hill property and using three other on-the-hill properties for, among other things, a convention center hotel.

Why were those negotiations shuttled? Cato said after Wednesday’s meeting he did not terminate the talks due to any major difficulties with city officials, only due to problems getting a secondary access road to the site.

No matter what site is chosen, the Emerald Star will still mean competition for Natchez’s existing casino, the Isle of Capri.

In fact, among those taking studious notes was Jose Oakley, general manager of Natchez’s Isle of Capri Casino.

Although commission members have long expressed their intention to let the market dictate which casinos succeed and which ones sink, Oakley has said he doesn’t see the Miss-Lou supporting two casinos.

After the meeting, Oakley introduced himself to the Emerald Star team. Later, he would comment that the Emerald Star’s plans were much more detailed than he had expected.

Any other thoughts? Oakley smiled, adding only that &uot;we just have to wait and see what happens.&uot;