A landlord-tenant dispute between Publix Super Markets Inc. and the owner of a Cutler Bay shopping center ballooned into a complicated legal fight that entangled the entire town, challenging its zoning plans in a bid to stop a neighboring development.

The spat started when anchor tenant Publix notified landlord Realty Associates Fund IX LP it would be leaving the Old Cutler Towne Center to move into new, larger space to be built about a half-mile away.