A controversial deal Drumore Township supervisors signed with the developer of a proposed megashopping hub at Buck will go before a Lancaster County judge this fall, a township attorney said.

If the judge rejects the deal, the matter could go to Commonwealth Court in Harrisburg, Drumore Township solicitor Kim Carter Paterson, a lawyer with the Lancaster law firm of Blakinger, Byler & Thomas, said.

According to Paterson, the decision on the deal will go before Lancaster County Judge James P. Cullen in October as part of an appeal of a decision that rejected the developer's application to build the shopping hub.

Drumore Township has been involved since June 2003 in a series of ongoing legal battles with Plymouth Meeting-based Wolfson Verrichia Group over a proposed 375,000-square-foot shopping center called Drumore Crossings, which is widely rumored to contain a Wal-Mart.

The most public of the battles was a conditional-use hearing that lasted from June 2003 until June 2005 in which hearing officer Matt Creme received testimony over issues such as wastewater treatment and the shopping center's possible impact on the nearby Amish population.

On Feb. 1, the Drumore supervisors voted to sign a controversial deal with the developer that said Drumore Township would withdraw its objections to the construction of the shopping center. In return, Wolfson Verrichia agreed to make certain architectural concessions on the shopping center's design as well as reimburse Drumore Township for $170,000 in legal fees.

On Feb. 9, however, Creme rejected the developer's plan because of the proposed shopping center's sewage system. Wolfson Verrichia appealed in March.

The decision to group the deal with the appeal, Paterson said, stems from an April 23 petition — filed by the developer — to get full approval of the deal signed by the developer and Drumore Township.

If Judge Cullen approves the deal in October, Paterson said, then he will likely move on to hearing Wolfson Verrichia's March appeal.

"This is a hearing open to the public, but it's not like a municipal meeting. Only those who have been granted party status by Judge Cullen are allowed to participate," Paterson said Wednesday. "I've also been informed that another lawyer (William Cassidy with the Lancaster law firm of Appel & Yost) has filed a motion to intervene on behalf of 34 individuals and one corporate entity."

The corporate entity, she said, is a group called Southern End Properties, which is the corporate parent of Musser's Market at Buck.

In a telephone call Wednesday, Cassidy would not discuss issues surrounding Drumore Crossings.

Calls to Cassidy's office on Thursday and Friday concerning the matter were not returned.

Calls to Wolfson Verrichia Group on Friday were not returned.

Paterson said the hearing will take place Oct. 22 and 23 in Courtroom A of the Lancaster County Courthouse, 50 N. Duke St., beginning at 9 a.m. each day.

Paterson noted that court administrators had sent notices to those who had received party status in the first conditional-use hearing overseen by Creme — a list of more than 70 individuals, including former Lancaster Mayor Charlie Smithgall, current Drumore Township supervisor Bob Holzhauer and the nearby Providence Township board of supervisors.

However, only those granted party status on the appeal by Cullen need to attend the October hearing, Paterson said.