NATCHEZ — A new housing development on Winchester Road is ready to begin construction, and even one of the project’s critics is ready to see progress on it.

Housing developer Jody Foster appeared before the Natchez Preservation Commission Wednesday and was given approval for the plans for the landscaping around the entrance to the new subdivision.

Foster met resistance initially from other residents in the neighborhood when he felled the large trees that once occupied the property.

The subdivision is near Routhland, an antebellum house, whose property adjoins the new development. The proximity initially caused concern for members of the Natchez Historic Preservation Commission.

To ease these concerns, Foster agreed last fall to plant a 20-foot-deep vegetation buffer on the development’s border with Routhland.

Interim City Planner Riccardo Giani said the vegetation buffer was approved in February, and the developer will now be able to begin to erect the landscaping.

“It’s not detrimental to Routhland and that’s the core of Preservation Commission’s role — to make sure anything in the development in regards to the entrance and buffer doesn’t take away any historical significance at Routhland,” Giani said. “They were unanimous that the entrance was OK in that respect.”

Elwood Black, who lives directly across the street from the new development’s entrance, said he had been resisting the new construction since last summer.

Black said the construction of some of the underground water and gas lines has damaged parts of his yard and driveway.

“My property is getting the shaft,” Black said.

Black attended Wednesday’s meeting and raised concerns about the safety of the entrance, which lies directly across Winchester Road from his home.

“(I’m worried about) someone losing control of the cars,” Black said. “It might not ever happen because they will have a gate, but it’s a concern.”

Headlights and traffic may also cause a nuisance, Black said.

Though he has resisted the development, Black said he’s now just ready to see the construction completed so the plain dirt of the site can be replaced by landscaping and new houses.

“It’ll look nice when they get through, they just need to get through,” Black said.