The Planning Commission was reluctant this week to require that, but it does want some revisions before signing off on the project.

Cedar Hills rejected a proposed Wal-Mart more than three years ago, but the big-box retailer returned with a smaller project that developers say better fits community aesthetics.

Still, most residents at a hearing this week say it's not enough.

"Before it was way, way too big. Now it's simply way too big," Cedar Hills resident Robert Ogden said. "This is simply too close to residential property, and little attention has been paid to that element."

The 2003 proposal would have brought a 160,000-square-foot store. The current version, including a garden center, is nearly 132,000 square feet. That 14-acre store would sell groceries, general merchandise and garden products but would not have a traditional tire, lube and express facility. It would take nearly 10 months to build, three months to stock and employ about 300 workers.

The commission said it felt uncomfortable asking Wal-Mart to scale back the building to a specific size because it may lose the business. The fast-growing city wants the retailer to anchor its first commercial development project.

"This is not what I imagined downtown Cedar Hills looking like . . . but it's crucial to have this business here," Commissioner H.R. Brown said. "Wal-Mart is a business that won't go away and leave us with a massive, empty building."

Instead of addressing size, the commission asked Wal-Mart to update studies on traffic and noise, provide additional landscaping and more specific plans for signage and return with a plan that better breaks up the store's big-box feel. The commission also directed landowner Phillips Edison to bring an overall plan for the remaining four acres, where the developer envisions other businesses after Wal-Mart is approved.

Shell MacPherson, a principal of the California-based development-services consultant PacLand, stopped short of calling the commission's delay a "deal killer," but he said Wal-Mart does its research and has thrown all it can into the store deal.

"I don't know how much more Wal-Mart can give," MacPherson said. "Wal-Mart values the community and wants to be a good neighbor, but community partnerships work both ways."

Roy Williams of Phillips Edison said he remains encouraged after hearing positive input about the need for a Cedar Hills Wal-Mart.

While many residents were unsatisfied with the proposed store's downgraded size, some said a smaller building, while attractive, was unrealistic.

"I would like to see a smaller building, but I understand the perfect little country store will not be possible," Melissa Willey said. "This is a great opportunity for our city in terms of employment, convenience and the tax base."

Wal-Mart paid Utah more than $17.2 million in state and local taxes in 2006, according to the company's Web site. The prospect of tapping a new source of income is attracting many residents to the Wal-Mart deal. They endured rate hikes late last year to account for a struggling city-owned golf course.

"If the golf course is killing Cedar Hills so much, why can't they build a Wal-Mart on it?" resident Wendy Gage asked.

sgehrke@sltrib.com