Folks in Saratoga Springs and Cedar Hills are one step closer to being able to shop at Wal-Mart Supercenters in their cities.

Last week, Saratoga Springs' City Council gave final approval to the mega-retailer, pending approval of the project's construction drawings.

In Cedar Hills, the Planning Commission approved Wal-Mart's final site plan — but the City Council is expected to have the last word on May 15.

The stores will likely please and provoke local residents who have spoken for and against the store, but officials in both Saratoga Springs and Cedar Hills say the stores will bring much-needed commercial bases to their growing areas.

"I'll bet if you went and polled the residents of Saratoga Springs you'd find the whole range of people who don't like Wal-Mart and don't want it to be here all the way to people who think it's the greatest thing in the world," Saratoga Springs Mayor Timothy Parker said. "I think most people, given our transportation system, appreciate having a Wal-Mart that's more accessible. ... I think most of our residents want our commercial district to grow so it can begin offering a variety of services."

Although resistance against the Wal-Mart in Saratoga Springs was small — several store owners in the area objected to the store's tire center and it was subsequently removed from the application — the process has taken almost 10 months to get to this point.

Clark Labrum, Saratoga Springs city planner, said the approval process has taken so long because the city first needed to resolve utility and design issues with the store. As part of the final approval of the 175,000-square-foot store, city officials asked Wal-Mart to widen its exits to Redwood Road and state Route 73 in order to accommodate future turning lanes that will be added.

"Those things took a little time to get resolved," Labrum said. "It probably took longer than (Wal-Mart) wanted it to, but I think we'll have a better project as a result of that time spent."

Construction on the store can begin when its drawings are approved, but the rest of the subdivision's site plan needs a final go-ahead from the City Council before the project is completed.

Although Wal-Mart's site plan for Saratoga Springs decreased by 25,000 square feet from its initial proposal to its final approval, the project in Cedar Hills has increased slightly in size since City Council members approved the store's preliminary site plan at the beginning of April.

The 1,500-square-foot increase, which brings the total size of the store to 135,754 square feet, was approved by the Planning Commission as a means to mitigate potential noise pollution generated by the store. In an attempt to move the store's compressors farther away from nearby homes, Wal-Mart reconfigured the store's layout and increased the size slightly.