The Roanoke Times | File Nov. 08

An aerial image of development along South Main Street in Blacksburg shows Fairmount Properties of Ohio's First & Main retail center project.

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• Read the Virginia Supreme Court's decision (PDF, 83KB)

This morning the Virginia Supreme Court handed Blacksburg Town Council a major victory in its two-year fight to regulate a big-box store widely thought to be a Wal-Mart Supercenter.

The ruling, posted this morning on the court's Web site, affirms the council's right to require Fairmount Properties of Ohio and partners to apply for a special use permit to build a 186,000-square-foot store off South Main Street.

The big-box is planned as part of that company's 40-acre First & Main retail center. Phase one of the project, including restaurants and major retailers such as Coldwater Creek and Talbots, opened last year.

Today's ruling could clarify for developers and municipalities when in the course of pursuing a project a developer becomes immune to changes in a locality's zoning code. In Virginia law this immunitiy is called "vested rights."

Blacksburg Mayor Ron Rordam hailed the court's decision as a victory for all local governments in Virginia. He said it reaffirms the town's power to plan for its future. Several municipal advocacy groups filed a brief supporting the town's position.

Rordam said officials' task now is to work with Fairmount and partners to ensure the success First & Main, while following the town's comprehensive development plan and zoning ordinances.

The decision is also a victory for 21 landowners opposed to the big-box, who filed a companion suit with help and funding from Blacksburg United for Responsible Growth, a grassroots anti-Wal-Mart group.