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Source: St.迷你倉 Louis Post-DispatchAug. 28--Paul McKee's NorthSide Regeneration plan is just starting forward again. But it got a big jolt this morning.Whether it gets thrown off track remains to be seen.Residents of the neighborhoods that McKee wants to remake packed a public hearing on the 1,500-acre redevelopment, crowding in the doorway to squeeze into the room where the city's TIF Commission was weighing some changes to its agreement with McKee. For nearly two hours, the residents took to the microphone to demand more say in how the massive project gets developed, and what their chunk of north St. Louis might look like when it's done.Technically, the subject of the hearing was some relatively minor tweaks to the $390 million tax increment financing package the city approved for NorthSide in 2009, to account for the project's three-year delay while it fought lawsuits.But, once the dry financial presentations were through, the hearing quickly turned into a forum on how much community input McKee has -- or hasn't -- sought from the nearly 9,000 people who live in his NorthSide project area. And it highlighted the disconnect -- at least in the eyes of some residents -- between the developer's lofty vision for north St. Louis and what day-to-day life is like for the people there right now."I'm concerned that all the plans never say anything about the people who live in this neighborhood," said Calvin Jones, pastor of Union Missionary Baptist Church on Garrison Avenue. "If you want to plan, include us in the plan."After the hearing, McKee countered that he's had more than 140 community meetings since he went public with his NorthSide plan four-plus years ago, and that he has strong support in the neighborhoods, even if it didn't look that way Wednesday."The community's made up of over 9,000 people. We meet with them regularly," he said. "The silent majority doesn't come to these meetings."But aldermen do.And after Jones and a couple of dozen other people stood up and asked sharp questions about NorthSide, the alderman who represents more of the area than any other 文件倉ook to the microphone."Paul has some ideas, but those are Paul's ideas," said Ald. Freeman Bosley Sr. "Our needs have not been embraced and been part of this idea. All I'm asking for is a conversation with us."Without that, Bosley said, he could not support the project, "and if it ends up in my committee it's going to stay there." Bosley does not chair, or even sit on, the aldermanic committee that will likely handle NorthSide, but his opposition would likely be a red flag to colleagues.First though, the plan has to get through the TIF Commission. While the panel typically votes the same day as a public hearing, they decided to wait until their next meeting, Sept. 11, to "digest" the testimony, said Otis Williams, executive director of the St. Louis Development Corp."We heard it loud and clear," Williams said. "We will not ignore it."But it's not apparent at this point what will change.Several speakers proposed a formal citizens board to give input on the project. But McKee said that was not something he'd support. And the bill now before the TIF Commission is relatively minor, Williams said. Any broader changes to the NorthSide redevelopment plan would need to be hammered out with the developer, and then aldermen.That's exactly what should happen, said Velma Bailey, and residents should be part of the hammering-out process. Despite the long legal delay, planning for NorthSide is moving too fast, she said."Please slow this project down and let the developer do what has integrity," she said. "Meet with us. Talk with us. Share with us."Several other residents said that sort of conversation would go a long way. Inez Brooks for one, said most of what she knew of NorthSide was that it involved a lot of money. She knew little of what it might mean for the neighborhood where she's owned a house for nearly 20 years."What is this about? Is it about money? Or prestige? Or human beings?" Brooks said. "It's very confusing."Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Visit the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at .stltoday.com Distributed by MCT Information Services存倉