A group asking to build what could be Vicksburg’s seventh casino got its first official go-ahead Tuesday from the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals.

The lay board voted 4-0 to approve a request for special exception from Mississippi Bluffs Development Inc., which has a site on the riverside portion of the 480-acre tract surrounding the closed Vicksburg Chemical plant.

The step is the first in a process that can take years. Next, Mississippi Bluffs will go back before the Mississippi Gaming Commission at the commission’s next meeting on July 20 for approval to put together a more detailed plan.

Vicksburg has four casinos, all developed in 1993 and 1994. Two other companies have cleared all local and state steps to start construction, but have not done so.

Last month, Mississippi Bluffs was on the state Gaming Commission agenda for a 50,000-square-foot building holding about 1,500 slot machines and 35 table games, but was sent back to local authorities because it had not cleared local zoning ordinances.

&#8220It has been years in the making. We’re at a point where we can finally proceed with development,” said Paul Bunge, Denver-based developer and founder of Mississippi Bluffs Development. Bunge is also planning a golf course laid out by Hale Irwin Golf Design and outlet shopping developments on the property under his Colorado firm, Silver Tip Project Partners LLC.

&#8220This is a very preliminary step to get them going through the process,” said City Planner Wayne Mansfield.

Of the two essentially cleared to start construction, Lakes Gaming Mississippi LLC, received site approval for a $200 million casino in February 2005, and its development plan was approved five months later. Its site approval expires in February 2007. The Lakes site is west of U.S. 61 South and south of the Baxter Wilson Steam Electric Plant.

The other, Riverwalk Casino, received site approval for a $42 million development on an area of land north of Rainbow Casino in July 2005, and its development plan was approved in December. Its site approval expires in July 2007.

Industry reports are mixed on Vicksburg’s future as a gaming site, which may affect financing. Some analysts say the market has potential while others say it has topped out at about $200 million per year in gross gaming revenue for the four operators.

Two of the original developers, Harrah’s and the Isle of Capri, have sold. Harrah’s is now Horizon and is owned by a Kentucky-based firm. The Isle is to become DiamondJacks later this year. Ameristar and Rainbow, the other two original developers, have had almost annual expansions. Ameristar is about halfway through with a multilevel parking garage to be followed by a second hotel.

Bunge said Monday only the golf course, which has been blueprinted already by golfing legend Irwin’s Arizona-based design firm, is the only &#8220for sure” development at this stage.

&#8220We’ve got a lot of work to do in terms of research and land planning and marketing,” he said, adding that he does not believe seven casinos can survive in a city of about 25,000 people. &#8220We see that as an extremely attractive gaming site, No. 1, and No. 2, believe we can turn Vicksburg into an attraction rather than a day area.”

The former Vicksburg Chemical property, on both sides of Warrenton Road south of the river bridges between Rifle Range Road and U.S. 61 South, had been under the control of bankruptcy courts in New York and Delaware and later the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality since the plant filed for bankruptcy in 2003.

The site was officially transferred from MDEQ to Bunge last week, in a deal that hinged on Bunge’s pledge to fund an $8 million cleanup on the 50 to 60 acres physically occupied by the former chemical plant, of which about 20 acres are contaminated, said City Attorney Nancy Thomas. The remainder of the tract is largely undeveloped kudzu-covered hills and hollows.

&#8220Until about a month and a half ago, when we were certain we were going to get the property, we didn’t want to speculate” about other possible developments, Bunge said.

The Dutch company Arcadis has been contracted to handle the cleanup of the contaminated acres. Another company, Harcros Engineering, will demolish the old plant structure.

Bunge said that land could be used for a park, part of the golf course or as a distribution center for Harcros which could use some of the chemical plant’s old equipment to sell as spare parts. He has also said there will not be any residential or commercial construction on the actual plant site.

Several property owners who live adjacent to the proposed course attended the meeting but said they were only on hand to listen, ask questions and review the map drawn by the Irwin design group. Board president Tim Fagerburg said public comments would be welcomed when Mississippi Bluffs came back to the city with a more detailed site plan, pending its approval by the Gaming Commission next week.

Roughly half a dozen residents quietly expressed concerns to Bunge and his lawyers, from Jackson firm Phelps-Dunbar, about a casino’s effects on parking and aesthetics along their homes’ scenic river views atop the bluffs.

&#8220I think the golf course is great, but the casino, I’m not so sure about,” said Minor Ferris, who lives at 3 Riverwood Place, on the northern boundary of the tract. &#8220It’s hard to make a decision without knowing anything.”

The addition of a golf course has been one of the Leyens administration’s priorities since he took office in 2001. After several unsuccessful efforts with other developers, the city reached an agreement last November with Bunge to build a course.

In other business, the board: