A group of Lewis Drive residents will have to wait another month to voice their opposition to an AJFC Head Start facility locating in their neighborhood.

The issue was tabled at last month’s Natchez Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting — and was tabled again Tuesday when not enough board members were present to take a vote.

Three of the five board members were present when the meeting began, but teacher Bettye Bell left to give an educational presentation, and the board was forced to adjourn for lack of quorum. Zoning meetings are normally scheduled for the first Tuesday of the month, but a planning conference pushed the meeting back one week.

Board president Betty Jo Ratcliffe apologized to those present, including the Lewis Drive residents.

In August, the board tabled a variance request from AJFC to build a center on Lewis Drive until the residents’ concerns about lack of traffic outlets could be addressed by Adams County, who maintains the dead-end road.

Ratcliffe answered the residents’ requests to hold a special meeting by saying she would present the idea to the absent board members.

The board also tabled two separate variance requests by Vanguard Towers LLC to construct telecommunication towers on Jefferson Davis Boulevard and near Reynolds and Brown streets.

Guy Stout represented Vanguard at the meeting and said the two towers currently located within the city are not equipped to accommodate the growing number of cellular phones and pagers.

Several residents of the Jefferson Davis Boulevard area spoke in opposition of the towers, voicing concerns of safety, aesthetics and decreased property values. Jack Stephens, whose father owns a professional building on the road, said the proposed site of the tower is unstable. &uot;I don’t oppose growth,&uot; he said. &uot;But I think there are better places for this tower.&uot;

Stout said his company would comply with zoning staff recommendations to determine the soil was stable before erecting the tower.

Board member Bob Gavin said he &uot;does not have the safety fears&uot; about the tower but is concerned by the opposition from neighbors.

Gavin suggested the board table the variance until the zoning board could meet with the Natchez Planning Commission and discuss concerns surrounding communication towers in general.

&uot;We need to get better direction from them on which way we should go,&uot; Gavin said.

The second tower variance request was also tabled because of the lack of quorum.