The developer of a new Wal-Mart Supercenter in South Roanoke County says that project is now moving "full steam ahead," despite having appeared dead in May.

Robyn Askew, vice president of Collum-Holrob Va. LLC, confirmed Friday that her company has options to purchase all 13 parcels needed to create a 41-acre commercial development on U.S. 220 just south of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The current national economic crisis will not impede the project, Askew said.

"The good news is that Wal-Mart is a wonderful, strong retailer," she said. "This should be a huge boost to Roanoke County, at a time when a lot of communities are not getting a boost."

The timing of the news is important because the 204,000-square-foot Wal-Mart project required a special-use permit, which was granted by the county on Oct. 24, 2006. Special-use permits expire after two years unless the holder shows that it intends to "utilize the granted special-use permit in a period of time deemed reasonable" by the zoning administrator.

Both Askew and Kelly Hobbs, Wal-Mart's senior manager for public affairs and government relations, expressed confidence the project would meet all the necessary requirements of that deadline.

Many residents of Clearbrook, where the store is to be built, assumed the project was dead in May. That was when Askew wrote the landowners to say that Wal-Mart had been unsuccessful in its bid to get all parties to agree to an extension for closing on the parcels.

The retailer refused to close on any property "until every permit needed for the project is in hand," according to the letter, which wasn't possible in May. Consequently, all the options were allowed to expire.

Askew said Friday, however, that while that initial deal fell apart, she began almost immediately to renegotiate with all the property owners and insisted that the project was never abandoned.

Roanoke County Attorney Paul Mahoney said that in determining whether the special-use permit is still in effect in October, the county will consider the developer's evidence of intent to complete the project, along with any evidence, such as the May letter, that it might not.

"To be fair to them," he said, "if they weren't going forward with the project, why would they go forward with the option contracts?" That action might "cancel out" the effect of the May letter, he said.

Nevertheless, Mahoney noted that, "I went to parochial schools and the nuns always told us actions speak louder than words. Words may be indicative of intent, but actions are stronger indicators of intent."

Cave Spring Supervisor Charlotte Moore, who has represented Clearbrook since January and campaigned in part on opposition to her predecessor's vote for the Wal-Mart development, said Friday she is disappointed.

But, she said, she is confident that Mahoney and Zoning Administrator John Murphy will "make the right decision based on facts, without emotions or personal opinions" as to whether the development should proceed.

The controversial project has divided the Clearbrook community since it was announced in 2006. A packed house attended a public hearing on the project in October of that year at marathon board of supervisors meeting.

Opponents argued that such a huge store would violate the spirit of a special zoning district overlay designed to protect the character of the semirural community.

Supporters contended that the overlay provided room for a big store by allowing it under the conditions of a special-use permit.

In the end, the board agreed with that and, on a 4-1 vote, rezoned a small portion of the property and approved a special-use permit for the big-box retailer.

A group of citizens sued, attempting to force a reconsideration of the vote. That effort failed in the lower courts and, almost a year after it was first filed, the Virginia Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of the case in November 2007.

Besides the Wal-Mart, which will replace a smaller, older store about a mile north on U.S. 220, the Clearbrook site has room for several smaller businesses, including sit-down restaurants.

The plan still faces several hurdles, besides its timing.

The Virginia Department of Transportation is still awaiting responses to questions it raised in April about the developer's transportation impact analysis, according to spokeswoman Heidi Coy.

Once VDOT and the developer concur on those, the company will have to submit a construction site plan and apply for an entrance permit.

The company also must still apply to Roanoke County for a building permit and satisfy a series of other routine regulatory requirements before construction can begin.

Askew said there is no set timetable for those things to happen, but "it is in everybody's best interests to move as quickly as possible."