The Oklahoma-based Delaware Tribe of Indians is taking its next step in crafting development plans for a 90-acre site north of Lawrence.

A Douglas County Natural and Cultural Heritage Grant totaling $67,775 will fund the professional planning process for a site, purchased by a subsidiary of the tribe in 2013. The 90 acres, a longtime sod farm operated by the Pine family before its sale, is located along the Kansas Turnpike — just northeast of the turnpike’s interchange in North Lawrence.

For the past two years, the Tribal Council and local officials, with the help of a paid facilitator, have discussed ideas for the land. The planning process — an “important next step” — will broaden that discussion to the public, said Douglas County Commissioner Nancy Thellman.

“There will be more formal planning and a much more public conversation about what they might like to pursue on that property that’s both exciting to them and potentially exciting to the people of Lawrence,” Thellman said Friday.

Ideas for the land so far have been based in agriculture, Thellman said. A news release about the grant says the land is “significant both for its prime farmland soils and the Delaware cultural history at the site.”

The 90 acres was once part of a Delaware tribe reservation that spanned between Lawrence and Leavenworth from 1830 to 1867. The federal government forced the tribe to an Oklahoma reservation following the Civil War.

Thellman said ideas for a working farm have been proposed — one in which American Indian foods could be grown. Another idea is for a cultural and educational center.

“Because it’s some of the most prime agricultural soil in Douglas County and is a parcel that a lot of folks are aware of, the Tribal Council is interested in working with the idea that the land itself is valuable,” Thellman said. “We all believe there’s something that can be done agriculturally and culturally on that land that benefits them and benefits our community.”

Douglas County issued a request for proposals from professional planning firms Wednesday with a deadline of Aug. 1. Development and business plans are estimated to cost $83,000.

Delaware Tribe Chief Chet Brooks could not be reached for comment Friday.