Lawrence city commissioners will get their first formal look tonight at two potential sites for new business parks, areas that could become employment hubs for the city and surrounding area for decades to come.

But they’d better work fast, Commissioner Mike Amyx said.

“Obviously, we know that we are running out of industrially zoned land,” Amyx said. “We know that if a goal for us is to be able to have jobs for the community, the planning’s got to start now. The process has to begin.”

During their meeting tonight, commissioners will receive recommendations from the Lawrence-Douglas County Economic Development Board, whose members unanimously support establishing business parks in two places:

¢ The former Farmland Industries nitrogen fertilizer plant, a 467-acre site that is lingering in development limbo after the cooperative dissolved as part of its bankruptcy case. City and Douglas County officials have been working to ascertain the site’s value and development potential, in preparation for possibly acquiring the property.

The gates are open at the former Farmland Industries fertilizer plant, a 467-acre site at the southeastern edge of Lawrence. Lawrence city commissioners are reviewing recommendations for future business park sites.

¢ A 300-acre site near Lawrence Municipal Airport. While no specific site has been determined, the committee advocates creation of a park near Interstate 70 that would offer large lots, likely 31 acres or more.

Both parks should be developed by 2012, the committee said. Current forecasts indicate that the community will run out of industrial land by that time, if the parks aren’t available.

Amyx isn’t ready to commit to a timeline or even whether the recommended sites make sense. But he is certain that finding room for businesses to locate, grow and thrive is essential.

Amyx recalls serving as a Douglas County Commissioner back in the late 1980s, when the city and county commissioners got together to form the East Hills Business Park at the southeastern edge of town. Today the park is home to some of the city’s largest employers and thousands of employees.

The two new recommended sites could be the right places to focus attention, Amyx said, but the work is far from complete.

“We’re in the planning business,” Amyx said. “That’s what we do best.”

Tonight’s meeting starts at 6:35 at City Hall, Sixth and Massachusetts streets.

County commissioners are scheduled to review the recommendations next week.

Andy Otto, who works for Hetrick Aviation at Lawrence Municipal Airport, parks a plane Friday at the North Lawrence site. An advisory committee has suggested developing a 300-acre business park nearby, with lots big enough to accommodate large industrial users.