By MATT PIKE

St. Joseph Post

The Platte County Commission has voted  to withdraw from any involvement in financing of the Zona Rosa shopping district after a vote on Monday.

The county government won a lawsuit previously that confirmed that it was not obligated to pay shortfalls in sales taxes used to repay bonds.

“With today’s agreement, the county government will withdraw completely from public financing of Zona Rosa,” said County Commissioner Joe Vanover in a news release. “The bank, the developer, and all parties agree that the county government did not default on the Zona Rosa bonds,”

UMB Bank and the present developer of Zona Rosa are suing each other over the repayment of bonds and maintenance of three parking garages within the shopping complex. In early 2025, they issued a notice that they wanted to settle their lawsuits by extending the special sales tax for Zona Rosa. Platte County intervened in the lawsuit with the help of attorney Todd Graves.

“For the last few months, we have been negotiating a way for the county government to get out of the public financing of Zona Rosa completely,” Vanover said.

The settlement agreement says, “The Parties acknowledge that the County is not and has never been in default on any obligations related to Series 2003 Bonds, Series 2007 Bonds, or any agreement named in the County Complaint, Settlement Agreement, or this Addendum to which the County was a party.”

As part of the agreement, the county will transfer the parking garages to the transportation development districts in Zona Rosa. The bank and developer agree Platte County can withdraw from the public financing scheme.

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