A judge's ruling on Monday means Wal-Mart may still be coming to Zionsville.

The suit stemmed from a decision by the Zionsville Plan Commission in May 2006 to deny the retail giant's petition, saying that because part of the property was located in Hamilton County, it had no jurisdiction in the matter.

Wal-Mart had previously met with the commission's Technical Advisory Committee at least four times as it developed a site plan for its 21-acre property at 11000 N. Michigan Road.

Zionsville Town Manager Ed Mitro said the town was warned of the potential problem by legal counsel Jack Lawson the day of the first meeting with Wal-Mart's proposal on the agenda.

"The hearing was the first time the plan commission met with the petitioner," he said. "Before that, they'd been working with staff and engineers. . . . The plan commission, at its first opportunity, realized there was a jurisdictional problem."

Wal-Mart attorney Alan Townsend said he never received a good explanation from the town why they waited until the last minute to bring up the jurisdiction issue.

"We worked with the advisory committee for months," he said. "They understood the merits of the plan and how the property spilled over into Hamilton County. No one mentioned a problem."

Wal-Mart filed suit against the Plan Commission in June 2006.

The parties made their arguments Jan. 23. On Monday, special judge Steve Nation issued his ruling, stating Wal-Mart would go back to the ZPC to present its proposal. Townsend was pleased with the decision.

"The ruling was everything we expected," he said. "We felt early on Zionsville should have reviewed the application on its merits and what they did, was on a jurisdictional reason, chose not to judge on merits. We felt confident early on the judge would require the plan commission to roll up their sleeves and do the work they're supposed to do -- review the applications, see how they compare to the requirements of the ordinance and if anything needs fine-tuning, work with the applicant, in this case Wal-Mart."

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