Appeals Court Rules In Favor Of Ellisville In Walmart Suit

One day after attorneys presented oral arguments in front of the Missouri Court of Appeals over an Ellisville resident's suit that claimed the city improperly granted a conditional use permit for a controversial Walmart development project, the appellate court ruled overwhelmingly in the city's favor Thursday.

Thomas Debold was appealing a St. Louis County Circuit Court decision handed down earlier this year in his suit which named the city along with current and former city council members.

In the 19 page ruling, the three-judge Eastern District Court of Appeals wrote: 

"The trial court made detailed factual findings concerning the City’s acceptance of the application and also about the contents of the application itself. The trial court then, as a conclusion of law, found both that the City’s actions implied that the CUP application complied with the ordinance and that “there is no clear and convincing, or any, evidence that the application for a conditional use permit was deficient in any way.” The trial court applied the 4correct standard in reviewing the City Council’s decision to approve the CUP and issued findings and conclusions in support of its decision."
Debold's attorney could not be reached for comment late Thursday.

The conditional use permit expires after September 5. The Sansone Group, which is developing the project, argued along with Walmart last week in front of City Council members last week for an extension of the permit, but was denied. Sansone representatives have said they could not pursue purchasing the property, which would be required to obtain a building permit and to begin construction, without certainty of what would happen in court.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that a Walmart executive said the company could ask again for an extension or apply for a new conditional use permit September 6.