NATCHEZ &045; A proposal to change the maximum height of downtown buildings from 38 to 75 feet will be on the agenda for a Planning Commission meeting set for 5 p.m. today at the council chambers on Pearl Street.

Also on the agenda is a measure that would extend B-3 business district zoning from its current terminus at Wall Street to Broadway Street, adjacent to the Mississippi River bluff.

The changes were proposed by aldermen following a proposal by developers Ed Worley and Larry L. Brown Jr. to erect a condominium development at the former Natchez Pecan Factory site on Broadway Street.

Because the proposals involve zoning changes, the Planning Commission must hold public hearings on the proposed changes. The proposals were first made last month by the Board of Aldermen.

However, aldermen also recently voted to change the appeals process so that Planning Commission decisions will now go to the Board of Aldermen rather than to Circuit Court.

The aldermen will hold a public hearing on any changes the Planning Commission recommends during their meeting set for 6 p.m. Tuesday at the council chambers.

Preservationists and locals have said the $19 million condo development Worley and Brown propose for the site &045; with more than 53 units, standing five stories tall &045; doesn’t fit in with the character of the surrounding buildings and isn’t in keeping with Natchez’s preservation ordinance or design guidelines.

City officials have said such a development is needed to help boost Natchez’s struggling economy and act as a catalyst for further development along the riverfront.

The city’s Historic Preservation Commission hasn’t acted on the Worley-Brown request yet, instead giving the developers more time to work out, with architects hired by the Historic Natchez Foundation, design changes that would help the complex fit the city’s preservation rules.

Also on tonight’s agenda are approval of a site plan for condominiums to be located on the site of the Canal Street depot and a request to rezone property at the corner of Canal and Washington streets.

City Planner Andrew Smith could not be reached Wednesday afternoon for further information on those proposals.