NATCHEZ — The City of Natchez is working to settle a lawsuit filed against the city by a housing development company seeking $1.8 million in damages.

Roundstone Development sued the city first in 2007, then in 2010, seeking compensation for what the company claims are damages resulting from the denial of a rezoning application.

Former city attorney Hyde Carby, who is still handling the case for the city, said Thursday settlement talks are ongoing, and the city’s liability insurance provider, Mississippi Municipal Service Company, is participating in those discussions.

Carby declined to comment further, citing ongoing litigation.

Briefs are due in court by Oct. 31, so the case may settle before then.

The 2007 zoning dispute was ultimately resolved in 2013 by the Mississippi Supreme Court.

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, saying the government was wrong to deny its rezoning application. The company lost its case in circuit court and appealed the case to the Mississippi Supreme Court in 2013, which sided with the city on the matter.

While the first lawsuit was ongoing, the company also sued the city for damages in 2010, asking for compensation for the lost business due to the city’s wrongdoing in the matter.

In 2011, Circuit Court Judge Forrest “Al” Johnson ruled against the city for breach of contract and misrepresentation. The decision was a default judgment, made because the court decided the city did not respond to the lawsuit in a timely fashion.

Former city attorney Everett Sanders was city attorney at the time.

Johnson outlined the two instances in which the city did not file a timely response or any response in his judgment order.

The lawsuit, or complaint, was filed on Jan. 20, 2009, and properly served to the city on Feb. 9, 2009, the order states.

A response from the city was due by March 11, 2009, but only responded two days later on March 13, 2009. Sanders’ response sought for the court to dismiss the lawsuit, but lacked legal support for a dismissal that the plaintiff’s attorney said is required by court rules.

On Jan. 14, 2010, the court ordered the city to file a response to an amended complaint filed by Roundstone.

A year later, on Jan. 14, 2011, the city had not filed a response, and accordingly, a default judgment in favor of Roundstone was issued, the order states.