That's the overriding message in a response from Davidson to a lawsuit challenging a 2011 rezoning of a 179-acre parcel along N.C. 73.

The town moved to rezone the property after Asheboro-based CommunityOne Bank foreclosed on it in December 2009.

Town leaders favored a plan dominated by a so-called employment campus, which would add jobs but not population.

Susan Irvin, a lawyer representing CommunityOne, argued that the roads, water, sewer and other basic costs for the entire development would cost close to $11 million, and a sizable residential area would be necessary to raise the cash to pay for that infrastructure. A development tied to the rezoning approved by the board, she estimated, would leave a developer more than $3 million short of the revenue needed to fund the infrastructure, making development unfeasible.

But in its response, filed in Mecklenburg County Superior Court, the town asks to have the lawsuit dismissed. At the core of Davidson's position is the fact that CommunityOne has never come to the town with a specific plan for the property, and therefore hasn't been denied the right to develop there. It is common for developers to seek rezoning tied to a specific development plan.

The town also contends that CommunityOne and its representatives were part of the discussions that led up to the final rezoning.

Before filing the suit, representatives of the bank agreed with that assessment, but added that what the town ultimately proposed and the town board eventually approved did not reflect what was discussed in the meetings.