SLIPPERY ROCK — Borough council Tuesday approved a land use agreement for a new Dollar General store on Franklin Street, over the objections of a Center Street couple and two council members who said they are concerned about a lawsuit over the project.

The 4-2 vote to approve the project by developer Orion Development passed with council members Bob Bowser and Royce Lorentz dissenting.

“They (Orion) shouldn’t be allowed to do this until it’s worked its way through the courts,” Bowser said.

Lorentz said he had concerns that a stipulation in the land use approval meant to give Christine and Vince DeLuca some power to access their property was unenforceable by borough officials.

The DeLucas, who are the defendants in a lawsuit brought by Orion seeking to bar them from using a so-called paper alley between their property and the store, said that’s what they fear will happen now that the company’s project has been approved.

Christine DeLuca said the couple has spent thousands of dollars on lawyers, and fears that Orion co-owner Frank Neely, who owns the parcel on Franklin Street, will draw out the court battle to force them to drop their opposition.

As part of the project to build a new Dollar General store the current building would be razed and a 10,000-square-foot building would be built on the one-acre parcel at 324 Franklin St. The project also would add a new parking lot and extend a retaining wall that holds back the hillside behind the current store. Last month the company offered to install a 10 foot right of way behind that retaining wall, saying it would be a temporary solution until the court rules on the lawsuit.

The DeLucas refused that offer, which came during a project presentation before borough council members, saying the access wouldn’t accommodate their trailers and they wanted the original right of way preserved.