A circuit court judge has dismissed a lawsuit that attempted to derail construction of a Wal-Mart Supercenter planned on U.S. 220 just south of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

A dozen people filed suit in November against Roanoke County and a Tennessee-based developer, alleging that the county had failed to follow its own rules in rezoning part of the 41-acre tract and granting a special-use permit for the 200,000-square-foot store.

Judge Robert Doherty, however, after hearing arguments in March, said the decision to allow the construction met the legal standard of being "fairly debatable," meaning that even if "objective and reasonable persons" have differing opinions about it, the board of supervisors' decision was reasonable and legal.

Pam Berberich, the president of a group called Citizens for Smart Growth that had taken the lead in opposing the Wal-Mart project, said Tuesday she had not heard from the Charlottesville-based lawyer who represented her group, but that she was "obviously very disappointed."

She and the other plaintiffs had especially pinned their hopes on the argument that the site plan had not included specifics about construction on some outparcels, which they argued were required by county zoning regulations.

Doherty rejected that argument, along with contentions that traffic impact studies for the site were inadequate and that the whole process had been "arbitrary, capricious, irrational or unreasonable."

"We are pleased with the court's decision," said Roanoke County Attorney Paul Mahoney, which "vindicated the decision of the board of supervisors."

He credited the county staff's "excellent reports" that he believed demonstrated to the court the "reasonableness of the decision."

Critics of the special-use permit have argued that it violates the spirit of a special Clearbrook Village Overlay District the county adopted in 2000. That ordinance acknowledged the inevitability of commercial development along that stretch of U.S. 220 in southern Roanoke County and rezoned much of the agricultural and residential property to commercial.

The plan called for preservation of a village character for the neighborhood, however, and provided that any building in excess of 50,000 square feet would require a special-use permit from the board.

In his decision, Doherty noted that, "It is not the role of the Court to decide whether a Wal-Mart Supercenter should be built on the land in question." His job, he said, "is to decide whether the Board, as the legislative body, complied with the law when it passed the ordinance that rezoned the land and granted the special-use permit."

Such actions are presumed under Virginia law to be valid unless a plaintiff can demonstrate otherwise, he said. That was not the case in this instance, he said.

Berberich said she and the other plaintiffs have not decided whether to appeal the decision.