An Indiana Supreme Court decision will allow a controversial travel plaza to be built in New Haven.

The latest court ruling could end a five-year legal battle between New Haven and Flying J, a Utah-based company that owns and operates truck plazas across the country.

At issue is whether the proposed 17-acre plaza with a convenience store and fuel station is allowed under the city’s former commercial zoning ordinance or the ammended version.

The property was zoned C-1 commercial when Flying J bought 53 acres at the northwest corner of Minnich Road and Indiana 930. Since then, the city changed its zoning ordinance, limiting the size of service stations to two acres.

Thursday, the high court decided not to hear the case, effectively upholding both an appeals court decision and a lower court ruling.

This is the second time the case has reached the state’s highest court.

The lower court rulings found that the truck plaza is a permitted use under the original zoning, that the new zoning ordinance doesn’t apply and that the project should be allowed, City Attorney David Van Gilder said.

Mayor Terry McDonald said the decision means cities and towns can’t protect their communities.

“I guess now the courts decide for local communities how we are to zone,” McDonald said. “It really opens up any neighborhood in any city for potentially undesirable development. I think the court has overstepped their bounds.”

Residents have been concerned about the proposed location in part because of its proximity to homes.

Now it’s up to company officials to determine what happens next, Van Gilder said, as the city has no other legal options for appeal.

“As a legal matter, the litigation is over,” Van Gilder said.

If the company wants to build the plaza, it would have to file a primary development plan for approval by the New Haven Plan Commission, he said.

As long as the project hasn’t changed since it was last sent to the plan commission in 2007, the commission would have to accept it under the original zoning classification, Van Gilder said.

The city rejected the development plan in 2007, saying it didn’t comply with an updated zoning ordinance, which restricted the size of service stations to 2 acres or less, he said.

That decision kicked off a second round of litigation, said local attorney James Federoff, who represents Flying J. Federoff didn’t know whether the company would file a development plan. That plan could raise other legal issues that could be disputed, he said.

Phone and e-mail messages left with Flying J’s corporate staff seeking comment were not returned Tuesday.

The plaza was to include a convenience store, country market store, 24-hour restaurant, fast-food court, fuel pumps and restrooms.

There were plans to include fueling for tractor-trailer rigs, services for recreational vehicles including a waste tank disposal, and 24-hour parking for up to 11 recreational vehicles and 187 trucks.

Flying J first approached the city about the commercial development in 2005. New Haven’s board of zoning appeals denied Flying J permission to build the plaza, a decision that was later overturned at the appellate court. The city unsuccessfully appealed to the Indiana Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, the city amended its zoning ordinance and a related federal court case was tossed in the city’s favor.

In December 2007, the board of zoning appeals rejected a new proposal, and Flying J quickly sued again in Allen Superior Court.

Judge Nancy Boyer overturned the board’s decision in January. The city appealed to a state appelate court, which sided with Boyer. Then in September, the city asked the Indiana Supreme Court to again weigh in.

aiacone@jg.net