BANGOR – The city’s planning board voted Tuesday to expand the protection zone around the Penjajawoc Stream, near the proposed site of a new Wal-Mart Superstore.

The board voted 4-1 to further restrict development along 4.5 acres of the freshwater wetland north of Stillwater Avenue, and extend the buffer around the stream from 50 feet to 75 feet.

Bangor City Council still must approve the increase, mandated by the Department of Environmental Protection to meet minimum state requirements. The council will consider the issue at its Monday meeting.

City officials say the new restrictions would not affect the troubled Wal-Mart application, which remains stalled in state environmental agencies, where officials have expressed concern with the development coming too close to the wetland.

In the original plan, the edge of the development came within 70 to 100 feet of the stream, far closer than the 250 feet recommended by state agencies.

Environmentalists also lined up to oppose the Supercenter plan, saying it would adversely affect the nearby Penjajawoc marsh, home to a number of the state’s endangered or threatened bird species.

On Tuesday, Lucy Quimby, a spokeswoman for Bangor Area Citizens Organized for Responsible Development, said she welcomed the zone change, but believed the additional 25-foot setback could not adequately protect the valuable wildlife habitat.

“Every foot counts, but our only regret is that it doesn’t go quite far enough,” Quimby said. “We need to save this tremendous natural resource that could be of economic value to our city.”

BACORD, in addition to fighting the Wal-Mart proposal, has approached city officials in hopes of turning the area into a nature preserve.

Throughout the Wal-Mart debate, naturalists hailed the marsh and the associated upland fields as premier wildlife habitats that, if preserved, possibly could bring tourists to the city.

While environmentalists welcomed the new development restrictions along the Penjajawoc, at least one abutting business asked the panel to postpone its decision until its next meeting in two weeks.

Ed Bearor, a Bangor lawyer representing Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts, said the delay was needed so the business owners could determine how the zone change and the new setbacks might affect their Stillwater Avenue store.

The requested delay was rejected, however, with the majority of the planning board opting to send the matter onto the council.

“It absolutely needs to be changed in this amount if not far in excess of this amount,” said planning board member Frederick Costlow, who like others on the panel cited a willingness to consider extending the protection area well beyond the state-mandated 75-foot minimum.

City planning officer Katherine Weber said the board, in order to comply with DEP regulations, also would look to apply the 75-foot buffer, as needed, to areas of the stream on the south side of Stillwater Avenue near the Bangor Mall.