A group fighting the construction of a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Roanoke County's Clearbrook area has failed in its bid to have the Virginia Supreme Court hear an appeal of a lawsuit it lost in April.

The group, Citizens for Smart Growth, petitioned for an appeal in August after the Roanoke County Circuit Court rejected its lawsuit. A panel of the high court heard that request in October and officially refused to accept the appeal on Nov. 7.

Roanoke County Attorney Paul Mahoney said Tuesday the plaintiffs could ask the entire court for a rehearing, but noted that such petitions rarely succeed.

Although there had never been an injunction barring Tennessee-based developer Holrob Investments from beginning construction, "it was good conservative practice, while there was a lawsuit out there, not to do that," Mahoney said.

The company has continued with engineering work, and has submitted several proposals for different entrance and exit plans onto U.S. 220. The company "has been through several variations on that, trying to satisfy the directive of the board of supervisors" to keep as much traffic as possible away from Clearbrook Elementary School, and comply with all the concerns of the Virginia Department of Transportation, Mahoney said.

Holrob has also been able to continue with design and engineering work, but "they could not close on all those properties, or put bricks up or cement in the ground while they were waiting for this to be resolved."

"Now with this favorable decision, they can go forward," Mahoney said.

"I'm disappointed," said Pam Berberich, the leader of Citizens for Smart Growth, who first heard of the decision when she was contacted by a reporter Tuesday. Because she had not had an opportunity to speak to the group's lawyer, Philip Strother of Richmond, she said, "I can't comment on what we'll do from here."

The supervisors approved a special-use permit for the 200,000-square-foot Wal-Mart in October 2006 after a marathon public hearing that lasted until after midnight.

Speakers voiced concerns about traffic, the store's proximity to the elementary school, and what many believed was a violation of the intent of the Clearbrook Village Overlay District regulations in the county's zoning ordinance.

That plan calls for the preservation of a "village" character to the area on U.S. 220 south of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Stores exceeding 50,000 square feet were required to apply for a special-use permit before construction.

About a dozen county residents filed suit in November 2006 seeking to have a court determine that the county had violated its own procedures for approving the permit and an accompanying rezoning.

The circuit court heard that case in March and rejected those arguments in a decision released in April.