By JOSEPH FITZGERALD

WOONSOCKET — Wal-Mart cleared a major hurdle Tuesday when the Planning Board approved the chain's preliminary plans to expand its existing store on Diamond Hill Road into a 24-hour superstore — a project first proposed by the retail giant four years ago.

The only two requirements that remain before Wal-Mart can begin construction in the spring are final plan approval by the city and final approval of project design plans by the Planning Board, acting in its capacity as the city's Design Review Committee.
Administrative final approval is expected to be given next month pending receipt of additional information from Wal-Mart. The Design Review Committee could sign off on the design plans in February, according to Woonsocket City Planner Catherine Ady.
In addition, the project has also been granted approvals by the Rhode Island departments of Environmental Management and Transportation.
The Planning Board's preliminary plan approval follows a four-year collaborative process between the city and Wal-Mart that has required rezoning, along with acquisition of adjacent land by the Arkansas-based retail behemoth. 
“Working with the city and residents of Woonsocket has been a pleasure,” said Christopher Buchanan, Wal-Mart senior public affairs manager. “The input and collaboration from the various boards and agencies working together on this project helped to ensure this Supercenter will best serve Woonsocket residents.”
In 2004, the City Council approved Wal-Mart's plan to upgrade its Diamond Hill Road store into a 24-hour “supercenter” by adding a full-service grocery and expanding to an abutting six-acre lot, which the chain bought from the city for $450,000.
Wal-Mart needed that city parcel to expand the store from about 12,120 square feet to more than 80,000 square feet.
The company had also acquired the former Roller Kingdom skating rink for the expansion, but needed the city's land largely for added parking for the larger store.
The additional land would allow Wal-Mart to add more than 400 parking spaces to its site and also include separate building entrances into the retail and supermarket sections of the expanded store.
The site currently contains a detention pond. As part of the plan, Wal-Mart is improving the pond to deliver added benefit to the city.
When first proposed, the expansion project was expected to generate an extra $350,000 in annual tax revenues, in addition to the nearly $600,000 the city already receives from the store.
Buchanan said the new “supercenter” will provide over 30 departments of general merchandise, as well as a full-service grocery store under one roof.
“It will also provide the Woonsocket community with hundreds of new jobs and a significant increase in tax revenue” said Buchanan, adding that the new “supercenter” will continue the store’s charitable endeavors in Woonsocket and the surrounding communities.
When the plan was first proposed four years ago, residents of nearby Knollwood Drive and Halsey and Patton roads voiced various concerns, going so far as to hire John C. Revens Jr. as legal counsel in the matter. Revens could not be contacted for this story. The attendance of those residents at meetings on the project has dwindled since 2004, although there remains a core group of neighbors who oppose the plan.