BLACKSBURG -- Responding to opposition and potential new government regulation, the developer of a South Main Street revitalization plan said Thursday the project can't happen without a big-box retailer such as a Wal-Mart.

Ohio developer Adam Fishman spoke during an invitation-only press conference at the Inn at Virginia Tech.

"It's a direct attack on our project," said Fishman, co-owner of Fairmount Properties, the company that plans to develop 40 acres of blighted and vacant land along the town's southern gateway. "Retailers are watching."

Fishman was in town for an annual retail luncheon affiliated with the International Council of Shopping Centers. This year's topic was "Weapons of Mass Construction."

Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

Mark Barbour (right) leads a group of about 60 protesters Thursday as they chant "No Big Box" outside the Inn at Virginia Tech, where the developer of a proposed South Main Street project was attending a luncheon.

As attendees arrived, about 60 protesters assembled at the entrance to the Inn and chanted "Fairmount has got to go!" and "No big box!" They held signs protesting Wal-Mart and other retail chains.

Beth Lancaster, who took time off from work at the Virginia Tech library to join the protest, said a big-box store would not only adversely affect schools and neighborhoods and cause more runoff into the Cedar Run Creek watershed, but it would scotch "an opportunity to do something very unique" in Blacksburg.

During the past week opposition to the idea of a big box store has swelled, creating an e-mail blitz, an online petition, a public protest and a crowded public comment session in front of Blacksburg Town Council, where the majority of speakers voiced opposition to large retail chains.

The Miller-Southside Neighborhood Association and the Citizens First political action committee have issued statements opposing big-box stores and called on their members to lobby the council to block them.

Fairmount's press conference, held in the Inn's Drillfield Room in front of 75 people and television and newspaper reporters, began after the luncheon and included some of the same attendees such as Tech officials, Councilman Don Langrehr and Mayor Ron Rordam. Two Virginia Tech students, Amee Fausser and Elizabeth Spencer, who participated in the protest, said they were locked out of the meeting room.

"They said they didn't want a scene," Spencer said. "We didn't want to make a scene. We just wanted to hear what they had to say."

Inside, Fishman struck back at the opposition and an ordinance that would limit retail buildings to 80,000 square feet. Langrehr proposed the ordinance after seeing a concept plan submitted by Fairmount for the town's consideration. It shows a 175,000-square-foot building behind Kroger in the Gables Shopping Center. Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing, and likely vote, on the ordinance in May.

And some of those companies interested in coming to Blacksburg, especially the smaller ones, are getting nervous, Fishman said.

Fairmount announced last month that several smaller retail, restaurant and entertainment companies, including Coldwater Creek and Frank Theatres, have committed to the project. The company has also talked to many national retailers, but "it's too early in the process" to announce a big-box tenant, Fishman said.

The ordinance would send the signal that Blacksburg doesn't want economic development or the $1 million in tax revenues and hundreds of new jobs that Fishman said his project would bring. Fairmount's legal counsel believes the ordinance cannot be retroactively applied to its project, which council approved last year. And if council tries to apply it, Fairmount would have to fight for its legal rights, Fishman said.

"The accusations were flying," Langrehr said after Fishman's presentation. The councilman said he likes most of the Fairmount project, but not the big box. If such a store is built, Langrehr said he thought "residents will be shocked and awed" by the increased traffic and other affects.

Rordam had no comment. "I'm just here to listen," he said.

But Doug Mauer, a business owner and Blacksburg resident, said he supports Fairmount's project. He's embarrassed when friends visit him and drive by the derelict Lake Terrace Motel, which is on part of the planned South Main project site. Other business owners he knows have trouble recruiting young professionals because it offers little shopping or entertainment, Mauer said. "This is an opportunity to grow the whole town. I'm all for it."