ROWLETT — The dispute between the city of Rowlett and its development partner at Lake Ray Hubbard crossed into legal territory Friday with the city filing suit, alleging that Bayside Land Partners refuses to build the project it promised.

Bayside Land Partners last summer unveiled revised plans for the 262 acres it owns at Interstate 30 and Dalrock Road — plans that no longer included the crystal lagoon, show fountain and trolley features that the city says had always been presented of the vision. Rowlett City Manager Brian Funderburk on Friday called the revisions "a textbook bait-and-switch tactic."

As conversations between the city and Bayside Land Partners continued, the City Council in September fortified its opposition to the new plan with a formal resolution. On Friday, the city acknowledged a continued impasse and filed suit in Dallas district court.

Rowlett City Attorney David Berman (from left), project attorney Michael Collins and Rowlett Mayor Tammy Dana-Bashian visit after a news conference. The mayor spoke of Rowlett's lawsuit against Bayside Land Partners LLC C over what the city says is a default on development agreements after months of unsuccessful discussions concerning the 262-acre Bayside development. The news conference was held at the Rowlett Municipal Building in Rowlett, Texas, Friday, January 4, 2019. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News) (Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)

"We believe we have done everything possible, short of litigation, to resolve this matter," Mayor Tammy Dana-Bashian said at a news conference Friday. "We are seeking all available legal remedies."

In the suit, the city said that in August 2017, as Rowlett was issuing most of some $50 million in public improvement bonds to support the project, the developer was changing the plan.

"If Bayside had been honest, Rowlett would have not issued the bonds," the suit says. "They were at the very least contemplating different plans, or, more likely, had already decided to abandon the agreed plan for an entirely new plan."

Representatives for the developer said they had not seen the suit and could not comment. The developer previously said the 8-acre, vinyl-lined crystal lagoon is not the best fit for Bayside's targeted business tenants and that the show fountain would not work in the prevailing winds at Lake Ray Hubbard.

Work continues on the north side of Interstate 30, where Bayside is mostly residential. Apartments and three home builders are in motion. A walking and biking trail recently opened, and a park is on track to open in March.

But city officials said Friday the apartment development on the north side of the lake was approved with the understanding that the lagoon, retail, fountain, hotel, conference center and other amenities would be delivered on the south side to support thousands of new residents.

"We would not have agreed to that level of density without the retail and the development to support it on the south side," Dana-Bashian said.

The city believed the south side development was to happen by the third quarter of 2019. It became concerned when Bayside switched lead developers for the project in fall 2017, then had little communication over the next 10 months as the plan was being reworked. Council approval is needed for work to advance to construction and it has rejected the new plan.

"The south improvement area remains essentially undeveloped land," the Rowlett suit reads. "The delay in project completion is costing Rowlett millions in taxes and other revenues."

The city's attorney in the suit, Michael Collins, said it would be appropriate for the court to award at least the south side of the property to Rowlett so that the city may develop it as it intended.

"The city is resolved. We will not settle for anything less than making Bayside a unique legacy project and world-class destination," Dana-Bashian said.