A Douglas County District Court judge has ruled that a full-blown trial is needed to determine whether developers should be allowed to build a Wal-Mart at Sixth Street and Wakarusa Drive.

In a ruling made public this morning, Judge Michael Malone refused to rule in the city’s favor on a motion that would have ended the case without a trial. Developers also had asked Malone to issue a “summary judgment” in the case, which would have allowed them to pull a building permit for the project without a trial. He refused to do that also.

Instead, Malone said that there were enough questions in the case that it should be decided at trial. No trial date has been set yet.

“We’re looking forward to going to trial,” said Bill Newsome, a partner in the property’s ownership group, 6Wak Land Investments.

City officials said they also were looking forward to the additional proceedings. That’s in part because Malone ruled in favor of the city on one issue. Wal-Mart and 6Wak attorneys had argued that the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals had denied developers their due process when the Board of Zoning Appeals upheld a previous city decision to deny a building permit for the store. Malone said that argument was not supported by previous case law and dismissed it.

A date for the trial has not yet been set, and it was not immediately clear whether the trial would be decided by a jury or a judge.