The first step in building a new mall in Ames took place Wednesday when a Tennessee developer submitted a change in the Ames land use policy plan to the city’s zoning and planning commission.

In the application, James “Bucky” Wolford asked the city to rezone land northeast of the 13th Street and Interstate 35 interchange for a 700,000-square-foot-mall, said Steve Schainker, Ames city manager. The old site was at the corner of Interstate 35 and Highway 30.

Wolford would not comment, because the application is in review and has not been approved.

The process of review goes through three stages, Schainker said.

“First the application has to be reviewed by city staff, and then it will go to the planning and rezoning commission,” Schainker said. “Then it will go to the City Council for a final decision.”

The reviewing process is being started now and will most likely go into early next year, he said.

LaVon Griffieon, president of the 1,000 Friends of Iowa committee, is against the idea of building a new mall in Ames.

“Ames already has established commerce, and those people aren’t looking to move,” she said.

Ames doesn’t want to get into a growth war with its surrounding communities because growth for the sake of growth is “like a cancer spell,” Griffieon said.

The proposed site of the mall has drawn scrutiny from 1,000 Friends of Iowa due to its location near Ketelsen Marsh.

The Jim Ketelsen Greenwing Marsh is a 68-acre park with a native prairie pothole and a restored wetland, restored and native prairie, pasture grasses, a sedge meadow and a shelterbelt.

If the mall was built in that location the Story County Conservation Board would have to give back all of the grants they have received for that area, Griffieon said. The proposed site is also not currently accessible to public transportation.

“People would have to backtrack to get to the proposed site,” she said. “To change the CyRide route just to take people there would cost money, and where would that money come from?”

Councilwoman Sharon Wirth has not seen the application but feels this is a very big issue for Ames.

“It will change the city as a whole if approved,” Wirth said.

Kurt Carlson, general manager at North Grand Mall, said plans to renovate North Grand Mall haven’t changed because of the application.

“We are moving forward with our plans and hope to have something on paper within the next two to three weeks,” Carlson said.