Wal-Mart Wins Right To Build Shopping Mall

Wal-Mart Inc. apparently has removed the last obstacle to plans for a shopping center.

Clark County commissioners have agreed to withdraw their rejection of Wal-Mart’s site plan application for a 260,000-square-foot complex by a freeway east of town and north of Portland.

In exchange, Wal-Mart is withdrawing a lawsuit for unspecified damages.

Under the agreement, scheduled to go before a judge for approval May 5, county commissioners Mel Gordon, Betty Sue Morris and Judie Stanton admitted they lacked a legal basis for the rejection. The 28-acre site already had been zoned for a shopping center.

The project has been opposed mainly by area residents who fear traffic jams at the already busy interchange of Mill Plain Boulevard and Interstate 205.

County commissioners share that concern, but “the board decision denying the project is not supported by substantial evidence when viewed in light of the record,” the settlement documents say.