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 Tuesday.

The city initially considered a proposal that would have required all commercial development on major routes into the city, regardless of size, to go to the Planning Board.

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.

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 Tuesday at a meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Augusta City Center.