Walgreens has asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed to block construction of a new pharmacy on U.S. 1 in Big Pine Key, and to impose sanctions on the Florida Keys Citizens Coalition for filing it.

In the request filed Friday, the national chain pharmacy's attorney said the latest petition of the coalition violates an order from a previous judge banning it from filing any more complaints in the case, except through him.

"I asked the court to impose sanctions because there's nothing [for the coalition] to lose; they can continue to file meritless actions with no impunity," said Walgreens attorney Nicholas W. Mulick of Tavernier. "I asked for sanctions so we can finally put an end to all of this, so we can put an end to the case."

The motion to quash the lawsuit is the latest salvo in a four-year battle over a proposal to raze the former Scotty's Hardware and build a Walgreens.

The Monroe County Planning Commission initially denied Walgreens' proposal. Mulick appealed that decision, but an administrative law judge denied his request. Mulick then appealed that decision, but Walgreens and Monroe County negotiated a settlement agreement.

The Planning Commission in October approved the project. The Florida Keys Citizens Coalition appealed, prompting the county to ask the court to sort out the legal technicalities and decide whether the settlement was valid.

Judge David Audlin in June ruled the settlement was valid and said no further administrative appeals could be filed and that all subsequent complaints must be brought to him. Despite that, the coalition in July filed another petition.

"We have filed a legal challenge against the most recent Planning Commission approval of this project," said coalition attorney Richard Grosso, executive director of the Everglades Law Center, a nonprofit law firm that represents the public interest in environmental and land-use matters.

The Planning Commission's unanimous approval of the development "fails to meet the purpose of the Suburban Commercial Land Use District," and violates several other county codes, the suit says. The coalition believes a new Walgreens adjacent to an existing CVS Pharmacy is unnecessary, and that the Planning Commission voted under the false perception that it had no choice but to approve it, in light of Audlin's ruling validating the settlement.

"The people of Big Pine Key have a right to maintain their community character," said Ed Davidson, founder and chairman of the Florida Keys Citizens Coalition.

Monroe County, which also is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, will ask the judge not to require its response until after he rules on the motion to dismiss, since a dismissal would make the government's response moot. Seth Gadinsky of Gadinsky Real Estate of Miami, which owns the former hardware building, did not respond to The Citizen's phone message seeking comment Tuesday.