AUGUSTA -- The latest version of a city plan meant to increase the level of scrutiny of commercial development on small properties goes to a Planning Board public hearing tonight.

The city initially was considering a proposal that would have required all commercial development on major routes into the city, regardless of size, to go to the Planning Board. It had been forwarded to the City Council after winning Planning Board approval.

However, after the initial proposal met with criticism that the review process was too expensive for small businesses, the city now is considering an alternative plan.

Currently, projects on less than an acre of land don't go to the Planning Board, as long as the proposed use is allowed in that zone. The city currently requires such projects to only undergo a review by the code enforcement officer.

The original revision would have required even the smallest of commercial development projects to go through the city's major development review, which generally involves multiple Planning Board meetings and a fee of $3,000.

Now, according to Deputy Development Director Matt Nazar, the city is considering a two-tiered system for review, based upon the size of the project.

In most zones, projects involving 1,000 square feet or more of new commercial construction would undergo minor site plan review, which would include a sliding fee scale in the range of $250 to $1,000.

Projects of more than 10,000 square feet would require major site plan review, including a fee between $2,000 and $4,000, plus the cost of notifying neighbors.

The alternative plan would apply to all parts of the city, not just to roads identified as major routes into the city, as the initial plan had.

The latest version of the "major development trigger" proposal goes to the Planning Board for a public hearing tonight at 6:30 at Augusta City Center.

In unrelated action, planners are also scheduled to hold public hearings regarding:

* a proposal from Delta Ambulance to expand its 10 Cony Road office and ambulance garage building from 2,850 square feet to 9,215 square feet;

* an application from Le Club Calumet to build an 1,800-square-foot, two-story addition onto the rear of the club at 334 West River Road;

* the final application of Bonefant Construction to subdivide a 6-acre parcel on Old Belgrade Road to create a five-lot commercial subdivision;

* a preliminary application from Mt. Vernon Properties to alter the second and third floors of 218 Water St. into seven apartments;

* a conditional-use application from State Street Plaza to build a 5,200-square-foot, two-story warehouse at the rear of 283 State St;

* an application from Omnipoint Communications to co-locate up to three new wireless telecommunications antennas on an existing, 160-foot tower on Westview Street; and

* a proposal to rezone an area at the intersection of the Route 3 Connector and Riverside Drive, from low-density residential to planned development. The zone change could make it easier for a resident to get a permit to sell pool tables out of his Riverside Drive residence.

Keith Edwards -- 621-5647

kedwards@centralmaine.com-