NATCHEZ &8212; Opponents of proposed zoning changes near the Mississippi River bluff attended a Tuesday hearing on the changes &8212; but this time, they let their attorney do the talking.

Natchez aldermen voted in recent months to make a number of zoning changes, including the following:

4To raise the maximum height of buildings in the waterfront district to 75 feet.

Aldermen first suggested the height change after developers Ed Worley and Larry L. Brown Jr. proposed a $19 million condo development to be located on the river bluff.

4To extend B-3 business zoning from its current end at Wall Street all the way to Broadway Street.

That change would allow a maximum height of 95 feet for businesses all the way to Broadway Street allowing, among other things, a hotel of up to that height across Canal Street from the convention center.

4To rezone a lot at Canal and Washington streets from open land use to B-2 business, which would allow Fat Mama&8217;s Tamales to relocate there.

James Bobo, attorney for a group of citizens opposing the changes, said that in the case of the B-3 zoning extension, there&8217;s not been a public need or a change in the surrounding area that would make such an amendment necessary.

Bobo said Natchez is a beautiful and well-planned city &8212; in part, because as buildings get closer to the river, they decrease in height, preserving the river view for those further away from the bluff.

&8220;There&8217;s a need to protect that jewel, that view of the river,&8221; Bobo said.

Bobo also said raising the height limit on waterfront buildings to 75 feet would destroy the river view for those with property further away from the bluff.

And he said it paves the way for others to build such tall buildings, which he said would put the beauty of Natchez &8220;on a slippery slope.&8221;

Bobo also protested the board allowing Mayor Phillip West, who was in Jackson during the aldermen meeting, to &8220;attend&8221; the meeting on speakerphone.

It was the first time City Attorney Walter Brown could remember a mayor or alderman participating in a meeting via telephone.

&8220;It was clear to me (West) couldn&8217;t hear well enough&8221; over the phone, Bobo said.

Second hearings on those matters were needed because state law says if anyone wants to appeal, the city must go back and advertise 15 days in the newspaper for a hearing to be held. That notice was published Jan. 6.

Now that the matters have been reheard, the board will have to vote again on all three proposed changes, probably on Feb. 14, Brown said.

In other business, the board:

4Extended for 30 days from the Feb. 9 deadline the option agreement Worley-Brown LLC has on the city-owned Natchez Pecan Factory site.

4Deferred for two years a planned $2,500 in the rent paid to the city for the City Auditorium for its use during Spring Pilgrimage.

4Voted to advertise for bids for work needed to modify the Natchez Association for the Preservation of Afro-American Culture&8217;s museum to comply with requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.