Plans for a new shopping center could take another step forward at Tuesday’s Ames City Council meeting.

City Manager Steve Schainker will present alternatives the city can take in processing a rezoning request submitted by Tennessee-based developer Bucky Wolford. Schainker will present three options. The council can choose to approve one of those, or it can choose to not use any or ask staff to draft a new option.

“City staff has tried to lay out three different approaches that they can choose from,” said Bob Kindred, assistant city manager. “There are several factors that apply to each of them. One would allow the zoning process to move more quickly for Mr. Wolford, and another one would slow down the process. One would have more guarantees for the city, another would have fewer.”

Kindred said the options are before the City Council as a means of seeking guidance for how the city will move forward with the rezoning request.

“It’s really the City Council deciding how much commitment they want from Mr. Wolford before they approve the rezoning,” Kindred said.

The city received Wolford’s request for rezoning Oct. 26. The application goes to the city staff first and then to the Planning and Zoning Commission before reaching the council.

“While they have filed for rezoning, that is not the topic of tomorrow night’s meeting,” Kindred said. “Because Mr. Wolford has made his application for rezoning, it will immediately be following whichever process the council approves. There is still a lot of staff review that will need to occur first; there are negotiations with the developer, and then finally the series of public meetings with planning and zoning and the City Council.”

Part of the rezoning process will allow for public input.

“There’s still a lot of work behind the scenes to get this to a form to bring it to the first public meeting, including analysis of the zoning request, negotiations, and, of course, public input,” Kindred said.

Mayor Ted Tedesco said that some people will be concerned about establishing a rezoning process, because it will give the developer more freedom to set its own standards. He said Schainker will present the guidelines that will prevent this from happening.

Tedesco said that, in looking at other communities around the state and nation, the rezoning process will probably need to reserve at least some autonomy for the developer.

“In order to develop a master developer’s agreement, the developer needs to know that the land is in fact rezoned to do this,” Tedesco said.

“This is a major issue to tenants that may sign up, for example, but it also is a large investment in money in putting that agreement together.”

Tuesday’s meeting will also include a workshop on the Pedestrian Walkway Infill Program. Staff will give a report to the council after having held several public meetings.

The council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 515 Clark Ave.