Legal ramifications may have prompted Moon supervisors to reverse themselves eight days after rejecting the preliminary land development plan for a Wal-Mart Super Center to replace the West Hills Shopping Center at University Boulevard and Brodhead Road.

The vote to give Wal-Mart preliminary approval last Thursday night was 4-1 with Supervisor Marvin Eicher the lone dissenter during the two-hour meeting.

Moon solicitor Myron R. Sainovich said, "This is not a done deal."

He said he feels that if the board had not reversed itself, Wal-Mart would have appealed and likely would tell a judge that it would comply in order to move the project forward.

With the board turning down several conditional use requests for the store, Wal-Mart must now design the building according to Moon building regulations.

Alan Sable, of Pepper Hamilton LLC in Pittsburgh, Wal-Mart's attorney, said, "I think my client will be pleased. We will have to re-evaluate our engineering and make some changes to the plan to determine how and whether it can be done."

He said at this point there is no time frame to begin the project. Wal-Mart is hoping to open the Super Center in 2010.

Mr. Eicher cited six violations of ordinances in Wal-Mart's plan, including failure of the retailer to present the board a plan.

He said that a raised concrete block wall planned for the rear of the building did not adhere to a requirement that building facades must be brick. Mr. Sable said that his client would determine the building material based on what the ordinance allows.

Supervisors' chairman Tim McLaughlin said he wrestled with the decision, calling the issue "one of the biggest decisions that this board or any board would have to make." He said he still has traffic concerns.

Beacon Hill resident Ed Nelson urged the board to reconsider its vote, noting that there are a half-dozen issues to consider. Valerie Cooney, of McKinney Road, suggested another traffic study, saying that traffic from Ambridge, Sewickley and Hopewell has not been considered.

Joe Dentici, a co-owner of Kuhns Market, said Wal-Mart can afford to lose money until it drives the competition out of business. "Their prices are higher where they've achieved the market share," he said, adding that he has interviewed people who have worked for Wal-Mart and said that they earn just above minimum wage.

"We believe that the unrestricted big box development plan that the Wal-Mart Corp. is proposing is contrary to our plans, vision and direction," said George Kniss, of Meade Drive, speaking for the Moon First citizens group.

He said that if the plans are approved, it will wipe out the effort that went into developing the overlay plans.

Mr. Kniss also warned that it would cause the deterioration of small businesses, increase traffic and a have negative affect on quality-of-life.

Several residents cited traffic concerns.

Supervisor Mike Hopper, who voted via speaker phone, asked Wal-Mart to consider erecting a smaller building. He said that after talking to the solicitors and the township manager, he was one of the ones who asked to reconsider his vote.

"With reluctance, I changed my vote," Mr. Hopper said. He said that the risks to deny the plan were too great.

Supervisor Jim Vitale said he requested the vote be revisited. "We are going to do the best we can for you," he told residents.