NATCHEZ — A 2007 zoning dispute, ultimately resolved in 2013 by the Mississippi Supreme Court, again will drag the city into a courtroom in November.

This time, however, the plaintiff — Roundstone Development LLC, a Dallas-based housing developer — is seeking damages from a 2010 lawsuit that was decided in Roundstone’s favor.

In 2011, Circuit Court Judge Forrest “Al” Johnson ruled against the city for breach of contract and misrepresentation. Judgment in the 2011 case was postponed until the 2007 case was resolved.

The Natchez Board of Alderman discussed litigation strategy in executive session Tuesday concerning the lawsuit, which claims the city caused damages to Roundstone by denying its 2007 application to rezone 25 acres for single-family houses.

Roundstone planned to build 65 single-family units, stretching from Old Washington Road to Oriole Terrace, but needed the city to first rezone the property in order to begin construction.

The Natchez Planning Commission denied the application, and the board of aldermen later upheld that decision.

Roundstone claimed it had purchased the acreage under the belief that no problems with developing the housing project would occur.

Roundstone sued the city over the zoning matter, lost its case in circuit court and appealed their case all the way to the Mississippi Supreme Court, which sided with the city on the matter, City Attorney Hyde Carby said.

“The first (lawsuit) was whether or not the board was correct to deny the rezoning,” Carby said.

Carby said he would represent the city in the current lawsuit and that he’s still trying to gather all the facts in the case.

“The (current lawsuit) is whether or not Roundstone had any damages because of the denial,” Carby said. “Damages would be that they (Roundstone) bought the property with the expectation that it would be rezoned.”

Johnson is scheduled to hear the matter on Nov. 5.

Michael V. Cory Jr. of Jackson-based Danks Miller Cory & Bridgers Law Firm will represent Roundstone in the case.

Cory said he would not disclose an exact dollar amount of damages Roundstone believes it lost in the deal, but said the losses were significant.

“The city is liable for the damages because there was no reason for the rezoning in the first place,” Cory said. “The project was prematurely blocked.”

Cory said the city denied the rezoning request because a large group of constituents opposed the housing development, which would have boasted low to moderate-income housing.

During a public hearing in 2007 to discuss the rezoning application, approximately 80 residents in North Natchez — where the development was proposed — voiced their opposition to the development.

“There was opposition to the proposed development because there was concern it would be similar to other developments people have a negative impression of,” Cory said.