The Boyer Co. expects to break ground in the spring on a mixed-use retail and residential project near the intersection of U.S. Highway 40 and State Route 189 on Heber City's south end.

The project, dubbed Heber City Crossing, is expected to eventually include as many as 30 retailers, with a mix of single-family, townhome and condominium units, Boyer Co. spokesman Wade Williams said Wednesday.

The planned Wal-Mart Supercenter, which will include a grocery, could kick open its doors by winter 2009.

The final concept still awaits approval by the Planning Commission and City Council, said Heber City Planning Director Allen Fawcett. That is expected by year's end.

Heber City voters approved Tuesday's referendum by a margin of 1,433 to 1,327. The vote was the latest development in a three-year debate over big-box development in this Wasatch County community.

In 2005, the council commissioned a study that found Heber City was losing sales-tax revenue because its residents were shopping in Summit and Utah counties. In addition, the council retained pollster Dan Jones, who found that 60 percent of Heber Valley residents preferred to cap big-boxes at 75,000 square feet.

In June 2005, after a host of public hearings, the City Council passed an ordinance capping retail structures at 60,000 square feet.

Earlier this year, however, the council reversed itself to allow big-boxes of up to 150,000 square feet - big enough for the proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter.

Ken McConnell, who helped spearhead a petition to get the referendum on the ballot, said Wednesday he was disappointed with the outcome.

"Close, but no cigar. We were out-spent," McConnell said of the campaign. "The people of Heber City have spoken. They've made their bed. If it's a mistake, they'll have to lay in it."

In the end, said Mayor Dave Phillips, residents voted for more retail-shopping options, and city officials were intent on capturing sales taxes that were "leaking" out of town.

"The City Council felt this was the way to go."

The Boyer Co. campaigned for the approval through a series of full-page ads in the local newspaper, The Wasatch Wave.

"Once the people understood the project and the benefits for the community, we believed they would support it," said Williams. "We feel good about it."

(The Boyer Co. is The Salt Lake Tribune's landlord at The Gateway.)

csmart@sltrib.com