By Adam Allington / St. Louis Public Radio
ST. LOUIS – A massive city development project in North St. Louis has received another setback. City judge Robert Dierker will not reconsider developer Paul McKee's request for public financing.
Dierker ruled in July that McKee's plan was too vague when the St. Louis Board of Alderman voted to grant McKee $390 million in Tax Increment Financing.
Today, Dierker rejected McKee's request to introduce more specific plans.
Paul Puricelli is the Northside Attorney and said that their assertion is that Dierker is misinterpreting the nature of the TIF statute.
"In our view, the statute does not, neither expressly or impliedly, require such specificity and, in fact, it doesn't for a reason," Puricelli said, "That is, to give municipalities some flexibility."
Puricelli also said that his client plans to appeal Dierker's ruling, and they remain confident in the future of the Northside project.