A city that isn’t growing is a city that’s dying. And, fortunately, the City of Natchez may soon get a shot of growth — or at least the potential for growth.

Natchez took a step closer to gaining some long overdue elbow room Monday after the city’s annexation plan passed its first hurdle — the chancery court’s approval.

The plan still must receive approval under the regulations contained in the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The authorities must decide if the annexation plan would unfairly benefit one race of people over the other.

Since no one lives in the affected areas, it would seem logical that that step would be a relatively easy one. The thought is that you cannot disenfranchise voters who don’t exist.

Beyond that common sense approach, we’d argue that people who live in our community should be considered Natchezians first and foremost before any skin color label is applied.

Annexation, particularly intelligent annexation of areas that are most likely to be developed for commercial purposes soon, is good for all of the community.

The fact is that many businesses prefer to be located within the city limits, even if doing so means slightly higher taxes. Often those taxes are offset by lower insurance costs that come with being closer to city police and fire services.

We applaud the city for taking this bold step.

We remain convinced that Natchez has incredible potential for growth and as the national economy begins picking up and climbing out of the recession, Natchez could be poised for great growth.

Hopefully, when the annexation plan becomes a reality, the city will have the room to grow when and where it needs.