City Council President Debbie O'Malley today introduced a plan for the city to buy a North Valley site where Wal-Mart hopes to build a store, and instead preserve it as a hot air balloon landing zone.

O'Malley, joined by fellow councilors Isaac Benton and Don Harris, said the council next Wednesday will take action on the bill which would authorize spending $6.1 million to buy the 22-acre site on the northeast corner of Osuna Road and Vista del Norte Drive Northeast.

The plan calls for using the land for soccer fields and as a balloon landing zone, O'Malley said.

"It's very important to get this site off the market," O'Malley said today. "This is an opportunity we can not pass up."

Wal-Mart has the option to buy the land, and the Bentonville, Ark., company has been planning to build a store there.

But that plan has generated opposition from neighborhood groups, particularly those who live in the nearby Vista del Norte neighborhood who have expressed concerns about noise and traffic the store might cause.

On Sunday, the neighborhood groups - including the Vista del Norte Alliance and the Alameda North Valley Association - held a news conference where they were joined by area balloonists, who said the city's continued growth is eating up the remaining available landing sites.

The North Valley land, the balloonists said, is a common landing zone.

O'Malley's plan would take $4.45 million from a fund designated for improvements at Balloon Fiesta Park and $1.65 million from a fund used to acquire open space.

If the bill is passed, but the city is unable to purchase the land, the bill gives Mayor Martin Chavez the authority to condemn the property, O'Malley said.

Chavez also has discussed plans for purchasing balloon sites.

His $500 million proposed operating budget, which is to be presented to councilors Friday, includes $1.5 million to purchase balloon landing zones.