Alan Kim | The Roanoke Times

Landscaping crew plant trees at the First & Main shopping plaza in Blacksburg.

Blacksburg Town Council denied a request by Sonic to build a restaurant in the First & Main retail development.

BLACKSBURG -- Sonic lovers may yet be satisfied.

Blacksburg Town Council will vote Tuesday on a resolution that could eventually lead to construction of a Sonic restaurant on South Main Street.

The resolution was placed on the council's agenda late Friday, following several weeks of private negotiations between officials and representatives of Sonic Corp. and Fairmount Properties of Ohio.

According to the resolution, the companies have "stated their desire to submit a revised application for a special use permit with revised conditions that address concerns."

"The Town does not object to considering a revised application with revised conditions given the expense and uncertainty of the pending litigation," the resolution states.

Reached Friday, attorney Jim Cowan said that his clients at Sonic and Fairmount "will continue to work with the town to try and see if they can address their concerns."

The resolution is an attempt to avoid another round of costly litigation related to the controversial First & Main retail development.

About $150,000 of taxpayer money has already been earmarked for legal fees to fight Fairmount's plan to build a 186,000-square-foot big-box store widely thought to be a Wal-Mart Supercenter near Margaret Beeks Elementary School.

A Virginia Supreme Court justice indicated in August that the court will likely hear arguments in the big-box case, which could set a statewide precedent in land-use law. Any official ruling on that matter is months away, however.

With a 4-3 vote in June, the Blacksburg council denied a special-use permit for a Sonic drive-in adjacent to First & Main. Fairmount and Sonic struck back in July with a lawsuit alleging that the council's actions were discriminatory and an act of "political retribution."

The proposed resolution will not immediately grant Sonic permission to build.

Rather, it empowers Blacksburg Town Attorney Larry Spencer to pursue a court order directing the council to consider an amended application for the Sonic project. Without the court order, Sonic would have to wait a year before resubmitting its application, Spencer said.

The application would then be reviewed through the town's regular public hearing process, giving residents an opportunity to weigh in on the revisions. The new application will likely include agreed-upon changes to the restaurant's site plan.

There is no guarantee that the council will approve an amended Sonic plan, however. It could be voted down a second time, Spencer said.

Sonic's first plan was criticized by residents and council members alike for a lack of sidewalks, crosswalks and other pedestrian amenities.

There were also concerns about noise from outdoor speakers and the pollution generated by cars idling at the drive-in.

Several speakers -- many of them members of the anti-Wal-Mart group Blacksburg United for Responsible Growth -- crowded town hall to oppose the project.

BURG representatives could not immediately be reached for comment Friday.

Cowan said his clients are "perfectly happy to have a public hearing and have those things heard. We think we'll have some support at that hearing."

Meanwhile, construction of phase one of First & Main progresses.

Several of the development's major tenants -- Jos. A. Bank, Coldwater Creek and Books-A-Million, among others -- are scheduled to open in October, Cowan said.