Today, Judge Nghana Lewis of the 40th Judicial District in Louisiana ordered St. John the Baptist Parish to halt consideration of whether to rezone land where a wealthy developer is seeking to build one of the world’s largest grain terminals.

The ruling is a key victory for Most & Associates’ client The Descendants Project, which has sought to block construction of the proposed massive grain terminal by Greenfield Louisiana LLC. On Thursday, Dr. Joy Banner, a co-founder of the Descendants Project, testified that the St. John the Baptist Parish Council violated a judge’s order when it requested that the planning commission rezone the land from residential to heavy industrial use — a step toward allowing the controversial project to move forward.

Judge Lewis wrote in the order that the Parish's rezoning application is "at best, incomplete, and, at wors[t], dissembling" because it says that the property is currently agricultural. The judge determined the Parish's failure to update its zoning maps after a separate ruling "points to a lack of transparency and forthrightness by Parish government."

Judge Lewis issued an order prohibiting "consideration of, processing of, or any legal action taken, whatsoever" on the St. John the Baptist Parish's rezoning application until the Court orders otherwise.