The proposal also encountered obstacles from city planners, who said a big-box store wouldn’t fit with the character of the neighborhood of about 537 homes near the intersection of Powers and Hancock Expressway. Instead, planners said Wal-Mart should be required to break the store into a number of smaller buildings.

In the six months since, Wal-Mart officials had remained silent about their plans, saying only that they were reviewing their options.

“It was only by the skin of its teeth” that the neighborhood did not get a Wal-Mart, said Councilwoman Margaret Radford, who represents the area.

That’s because a city ordinance that gave the area commercial zoning in 1998 specified that “uses shall be restricted to those shown on the approved concept plan.”

That concept plan depicted several hotels, office buildings and restaurants — not big-box stores.

When Wal-Mart first submitted its application, city planning officials took the position that concept plans expired after four years and therefore, a big-box store was allowed. They later changed their position.

For the majority of Soaring Eagles residents, especially those whose homes bordered the proposed store site, “it’s welcome news,” said Jim Webber, president of the Soaring Eagles homeowners association.

“There also were some residents that wanted them to come,” he said.

Their neighborhood still borders an empty commercially zoned plot of land, Webber noted. “Now, we’re concerned and curious about who will be interested in that property,” he said.

Although Radford agreed that Wal-Mart didn’t belong in the neighborhood, she said the area does need more retail stores, particularly since two grocery stores recently closed.

“We have a huge challenge in getting larger storefronts reoccupied,” she said.

The store would have been the 10th Wal-Mart in the area.

Wal-Mart has five Supercenters in Colorado Springs and one in Fountain. Plans have also been approved for stores in Woodland Park, Monument and Falcon.