The Laurinburg planning board is expected to consider a revised request tonight to rezone an intersection of West Boulevard to allow a shopping center.

The revised proposal calls for about five acres to be rezoned from residential to general business conditional use district at the northwest corner of West Boulevard and the US 15/501 Bypass.

The original proposal called for a 7.73 acres of land to be rezoned for for general business zoning. The difference between the two requests are that the conditional use permit would allow city council to set specific criteria for the property that can only be changed by an appearance before council, regardless of site ownership.

The smaller track of land means the land will accommodate fewer businesses. The original plan called for two retailers and a restaurant while the new plans calls for just one retailer and a restaurant.

CBS, LLC, a Rockingham-based developer, was initially scheduled to go before the board June 10, but Kenneth Robinette, the company's owner, withdrew the application to revise the request and because of scheduling conflicts.

CBS hopes to zone the property to facilitate building a Staples on an adjacent lot.

The board will meet tonight at 7 p.m. to hear the request.

The residents of Scotsdale and Westwood, the two adjacent housing developments, have expressed opposition to three previous zone change requests for the property.

Only the third request was successful, which rezoned 3.4 acres to general business to allow a Staples to come in.

Development has yet to begin on the Staples, however, because of the considerable expense that would be incurred by making improvements required by the state Department of Transportation.

"We make this request to entice retail and restaurants to Laurinburg," Robinette said in his initial request. "Having the proper zoning in place for potential commercial users is preferable to rezoning after generating interest."

"Another reason to rezone is to defray the cost of the proposed stop light and road improvements to West Boulevard. The estimate for the improvements is $700,000, which is to be borne exclusively by the developer. It is not economically feasible to pay for the road improvements with one commercial tenant on the property. The cost must be dispersed among three or four."