Missouri City officials agreed at a court hearing Friday to hold off on the final platting of the Briggs Tract, setting the stage for a Harris County judge to rule on whether the city acted legally in approving a developer’s zoning change request as part of a plan to build homes on the land.

For its part, plaintiff Creekmont Community Association Inc. agreed to forgo a hearing on a temporary injunction request that had been filed by attorney Derrick Reed on behalf of the group.

The injunction would have barred Missouri City from doing any work on the proposal by developer Ashton Woods to build a 278-home subdivision on the Briggs Tract, located off Hwy. 6 between the Fort Bend Parkway Toll Road and FM 521.

Under the agreement reached Friday, the city may do preparatory work, such as plan reviews, but it may not take any final action.

Finally, the agreement calls for both sides to request a summary judgment in which each side will present the facts of the case as each side views them, after which the court will issue a ruling based on those facts submitted, possibly as soon as the next 30 days.

Attorneys for both sides told Judge Kyle Carter the agreement was made in hopes of avoiding a lengthy trial.

“Time is of the essence for both parties,” an attorney for the city told the court.

Lawyers for each side may choose to make oral arguments, or Carter could order that oral arguments be presented.

The case hinges on whether the request by Ashton Woods constitutes a zoning change of the Briggs Tract or a zoning of the Briggs Tract for the first time. Zoning changes are required by state law to have approval of 75 percent of the governing body when the request is protested by at least 20 percent of neighboring landowners, as happened in the case of the Briggs Tract. A zoning of the land for the first time—even when protested—does not require approval by 75 percent of the governing body and may pass with a simple majority of votes. The request involving the zoning of the Briggs Tract received a vote of 5-2, one vote short of 75 percent of the Missouri City City Council.

That central question—zoning or rezoning—came to the forefront quickly. Carter asked for the case’s stipulations, and within minutes both sides’ lawyers were talking over each other in disagreement of how Ashton Woods’ request should be described, leading Carter to say, “The wheels have fallen off of the stipulations.”

It was at that point that Carter told both sides’ legal teams to draw up their summary judgments for submission to him by March 20.

Those neighbors who filed the protests cited concerns the new housing development would bring traffic congestion and exacerbate flooding in the area.

The case was filed in the 61st District Court, but Judge Frederica Phillips recused herself and the lawsuit landed before Carter in the 125th district.

In addition to the city of Missouri City, Creekmont’s lawsuit names as defendants Mayor Allen Owen, Assistant City Manager Scott Elmer and Director of Development Services Otis Spriggs.

A similar lawsuit was filed against the same defendants in Fort Bend County by attorney Charles Irvine on behalf of Newpoint Estates Homeowners Association. Irvine said that lawsuit has been withdrawn because the Creekmont suit has moved more quickly. Irvine is acting as co-counsel for Creekmont. His former plaintiff has not joined the Creekmont suit, but it may do so in the future, he said.