A site rendering of the proposed shopping center near the South Lawrence Trafficway.

After about a monthlong delay, the City Commission will decide Tuesday whether to make land-use and zoning changes that would allow for a new 250,000-square-foot shopping development in south Lawrence.

The development, dubbed KTen Crossing, is planned for the southeast corner of the south Iowa Street-South Lawrence Trafficway intersection.

But before North Carolina-based development group Collett can move forward on the project, commissioners must agree to rezone about 60 acres at the intersection from residential to commercial. Further, the city’s comprehensive plan must be altered to reflect the commercial use.

The issue was supposed to go before commissioners Dec. 8 but was pulled from the agenda shortly before the meeting because one commissioner could not be in attendance.

Days before the Dec. 8 meeting, Chris Challis, a project manager on KTen Crossing, said to a crowd mostly comprising project supporters that the project had experienced “some downs.”

“I don’t know if we’d be here if it weren’t for the embrace that we’ve gotten from many of you,” he told the crowd. “We’ve had some downs, especially last year, and we might not have stuck it out.”

The Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission voted 6-2 in August to recommend the project for approval. In 2014, though, the commission rejected a larger, 540,000-square-foot shopping center proposed by the same development group, partly because of concern it would jeopardize the city’s investment in Rock Chalk Park, which includes commercially zoned area.

Those concerns persist with the smaller KTen Crossing, according to a city report.

The report going before city commissioners Tuesday states the development could have a positive effect on sales tax revenue. But it also cited concerns that it could pull shoppers from other retail spots, including downtown Lawrence and the commercial area near Rock Chalk Park, “potentially under-serving these areas of the community.”

KTen Crossing would comprise two anchor stores, three junior anchor stores and two smaller shops, as well as six parcels that could be used for restaurants and a gas station, Challis said.

A site rendering of the proposed shopping center near the South Lawrence Trafficway.

Collett has received letters of intent from Academy Sports and Outdoors, Fresh Market, HomeGoods and Old Navy to locate at KTen Crossing, Challis said. Designer Shoe Warehouse and Off Broadway Shoes have also expressed interest.

Under the city’s comprehensive plan, Horizon 2020, the future use of the area is currently designated as auto-related commercial, meaning it could house auto sales and repair businesses, restaurants and hotels. Commissioners will consider changing it to regional commercial.

Challis said at the public meeting in December that a shopping center would serve as a better southern gateway to Lawrence.

“We think the transition from going from a land-use category allowing something like a truck stop to a first-class shopping center is more appropriate,” he said.

If given the go-ahead, Collett hopes to start engineering and design work this winter and break ground on the project in summer 2016. It’s estimated the shopping center would open in fall 2017.