It comes after the Central Otago District Council approved a request at a meeting yesterday from the Hartley Road Partnership (HRP) to put the proposal out for public comment.
The site is about 5.6ha of land, located at the intersection with State Highway8, and HRP wants the land rezoned from rural to industrial.
HRP adviser Peter Dymock said with population increases in the area, there had been increasing demand for industrial or commercial activity.
"The thinking behind it is that there’s no industrial zone land in Clyde, which is the only town in Central Otago that hasn’t got any industrial zoning.
"Even places such as Naseby have got some land set aside for industrial.
"But Clyde is growing and we’ve got an economic report that says there’s a demand for industrial land at Clyde."
Mr Dymock said the land was "very strategically located".
"It’s well away from any residential land at all, so there won’t be any issues with the stuff that goes on in the industrial zone being incompatible with residential use."
He used Cromwell’s industrial zone as an example for the kind of activity the proposed industrial zone in Clyde could house.
"It could be commercial, warehouses, petrol stations, panel beaters, yards.
"It’s specifically set aside for activities that do have issues environmentally."
Clyde had an estimated population of 1290 as of June 2024, an increase of 162 people (14.5%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 255 people (25.1%) since the 2006 census.
Central Otago’s population of 26,500 has increased by more than 29% since the 2013 census.
Central Otago District Mayor Tamah Alley could not comment on the merits of the proposed plan change, but said the "challenges of managing growth are not insubstantial".
"We have seen a number of private plan change requests over the past few years to cater for this growth.
"How we cater for this growth without overburdening current ratepayers is a challenge. Along with residential and population increases, there is also a need for additional capacity in other sectors.
"As this private plan change goes out for consultation, I encourage all our residents, and especially the people of Clyde, to understand what this is about and make a submission if they choose."
The proposed plan change will go through the public notification process, before being sent to a hearing overseen by independent commissioners.
Mr Dymock said he expected this process to take about 18 months.
"But this is just getting it off the ground. It’s taken a year to get this far."