Published: November 04, 2009 11:03 am      

Wal-Mart suit continues to languish in court

It’s unlikely that the Wal-Mart Real Estate Business Trust and the Zionsville Plan Commission will come to a resolution any time soon.

The lawsuit, which Wal-Mart filed against the town in June 2008 in Boone County Superior Court II, followed the commission’s rejection of a Wal-Mart development plan in May 2008.

The department store giant owns more than 22 acres on the Boone-Hamilton County border at U.S. 421 and Bennett Parkway. According to Wal-Mart officials, it spent more than $2 million in acquiring, designing and engineering the site for development.

In 2006, Wal-Mart submitted a development plan that was rejected by the commission, who claimed it did not have jurisdiction to rule on it because part of the land was in Hamilton County. Judge Nation of Hamilton County Superior Court I, appointed to the case as a special judge, ruled in March 2008 that it was in the commission’s jurisdiction and advised it to rule on the case based on its merits.

By May, the commission again decided that the re-submitted Wal-Mart development plan was deficient, citing traffic, drainage and setback issues, among other problems.

“The judge (Steve Nation) periodically sets it for a telephone conference, but we usually don’t say anything,” said Patrick Hess, attorney for the plan commission. “Wal-Mart says they are still considering what to do with the land. The judge usually asks us if we have any problems with a continuance, and we say ‘No.’ That’s usually the end of it.”

The latest continuance, granted Oct. 21, will put off the next telephone conference until Jan. 7, 2010. Continuances have been granted by Nation on March 18, May 29 and Aug. 7 so far this year.

Hess said he did not expect anything happening soon in the case, nor did Town Manager Ed Mitro or Town Planner Terry Jones.

“The current status is how it has been for a while now,” Jones said.

Wal-Mart spokesman Jason Wetzel did not address the issue at length beyond saying “We continue to have ongoing discussions with the village, but no specific outcomes have been reached at this time.”

The attorney for Wal-Mart, Alan Townsend of Bose, McKinney and Evans, gave a similar statement.

“There is nothing newsworthy I can share at this time,” Townsend said.