TEGA CAY--Plans to build a Wal-Mart supercenter remain up in the air while city leaders and the developer wait for each other to make the first move.

The developer, The Tuttle Co., wants to build a 203,000-square-foot Wal-Mart supercenter off Hwy. 160 West in Stonecrest.

To do that, Tuttle needs to buy 15 acres off Dam Road from landowner Dean Crisp and annex it into the Tega Cay city limits. Tuttle doesn't want to buy the land unless it has assurances from the Tega Cay City Council that the city will annex and rezone the property and give Wal-Mart the green light.

But city council members say they're unwilling to move forward until Wal-Mart and Tuttle make concessions about traffic, operating hours and more. And Wal-Mart says it won't talk or concede anything until the land has been rezoned and made ready for a supercenter.

Meanwhile, the property owner at the center of the deal wants his money, and he says he's disillusioned.

Crisp said he never wanted to sell his land in the first place, but he signed a deal with Tuttle for his children's sake.

"Our kids will get whatever we do get for the land," Crisp said.

The Wal-Mart standoff has spurred at least two closed-door meetings earlier this month between the council and its attorneys, to discuss how they could change the Stonecrest development agreement if Tuttle asks them to annex the 15 acres. Council members have also asked their lawyers how they could give Tuttle the assurances he wants, without having to take an official vote in a public meeting.

Mayor Bob Runde said he told Tuttle the city cannot give him those assurances.

"Until we get an annexation request, nothing is going to happen," Runde said.

Meanwhile, council members have a list of concerns they want to see addressed before they vote in favor of Tuttle's Wal-Mart proposal.

Wal-Mart representatives have mentioned the possibility of the development including a gas station, but Runde said he does not want a gas station there.

Council members also don't want businesses in Stonecrest open 24 hours a day, but that's the typical operating hours for a Wal-Mart supercenter. They also don't want anything sold out of the parking lot.

Wal-Mart spokesman Glen Wilkins said Wal-Mart is willing to negotiate on most of the council's concerns, once it gets approval to build. But none of Wal-Mart's 1,500 supercenters have curtailed their 24-hour, seven-day a week operating schedules.

Runde said he doubts the city will do much giving.

"There are some things I want if I'm going to vote for it, but you have to weigh a lot of other things, too," he said. "If we have 20 things we want, and we get 19 out of the 20 things we want, I might be open to giving in on the one."

At least two other council members said they would consider voting for the Wal-Mart deal if their concerns were satisfied. Councilwoman Judi Tesla has said she would vote against it.

"It's kind of a card game now," Councilman Larry Harper said. "He (Tuttle) wants a little security that the land will be annexed and zoned for the Wal-Mart before moving and getting control of the property. But for us to take any positive action, an application for annexation has to be submitted."

But Tuttle cannot ask the city to annex land he doesn't own. Such a request would have to come from the property owner, but Crisp doesn't want any part of it.

Tuttle said with a willing seller and a willing buyer, the land purchase is a done deal, although he hasn't cut Crisp a check yet.

Tuttle - caught between the interests of the property owner, Wal-Mart and city leaders - said he remains optimistic a deal can be forged.

"There's already been a great deal of flexibility on both sides," he said.