TOPSHAM – At least we can get our pasta a little fasta.

A Topsham-based developer is bringing the highly coveted Olive Garden to the midcoast, signing a contract with the national eatery Tuesday. If approved, the restaurant will be built behind the 99 Restaurant in the Topsham Fair Mall complex.

The restaurant, which still has to go through the town’s permitting process, could be under construction next spring, said Suzanne Watson, economic development director for the town.

“I get calls all the time about getting an Olive Garden here,” said Watson, happy to finally have the answer.

Roland Miller, Auburn’s economic development chief, wishes the same. When told of the deal, he paused before saying, “Well, that’s good for Topsham.”

Local developers have been negotiating with Olive Garden for years, trying to wrangle a location for the Italian food franchise. In a Sun Journal poll published last December, Olive Garden was the No. 1 pick of the more than 800 readers who wrote to say what retailers they wanted in L-A.

George Schott, the Auburn Mall owner who’s been developing many of the city’s new retail complexes, said his negotiations with Olive Garden stopped about the time the Topsham discussions began. He said the Topsham location doesn’t doom the chances of an L-A restaurant, “but it’s not helping us.”

The Lewiston-Auburn market could easily support its own Olive Garden, he said, and hopes sales figures from other restaurants and retailers will demonstrate that fact to Olive Garden scouts.

“We need ammo; I hope others’ sales performance will convince them to come,” he said.

Within the last two years a Ruby Tuesday and Longhorn Steakhouse opened on Mt. Auburn Avenue and a TGI Friday is expected to open soon. Kohl’s opened a couple of months ago in that neighborhood and a Best Buy is under way.

Olive Garden, a division of Darden Restaurants Inc., reported sales of $2.6 billion last year, up 9 percent from its 2005 numbers. It is the biggest player in the casual dining industry in the United States. In 2006, its average annual sales per restaurant was $4.6 million.

Watson said it’s her understanding that Olive Garden expects to draw from a market as far away as Boothbay Harbor, and of course, Lewiston-Auburn. Developer Dan Catlin had been negotiating with the chain for months for the parcel at the intersection of Park Drive and Topsham Fair Mall Road.

“Many of us were surprised it hadn’t been developed yet, since it’s such a prime location,” Watson said.

The Topsham franchise will be the fifth Olive Garden in the state, joining South Portland, Augusta, Bangor and Biddeford.

Miller says he expects to continue having direct contact with the eatery, hoping to entice them to the area. And the restaurant’s annual report offers some hope: The chain expects to open about 35 new restaurants in 2007.

“With scenarios in Augusta, South Portland and now Topsham, it’s a logical next step for them to come to L-A,” he said.