Platte County government withdraws from public financing of Zona Rosa

PLATTE COUNTY, Mo. (KQTV) -- The Platte County Commission voted Monday to withdraw from any involvement in the public financing of the Zona Rosa shopping district.

The county government won a lawsuit that confirmed 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," County Commissioner Joe Vanover said. " The bank, the developer and all parties agree that the county government did not default on the Zona Rosa bonds."

UMB Bank, which is a bondholder trustee in the matter, and the present developer of Zona Rosa are suing each other over their repayment of bonds and maintenance of three parking garages within the shopping complex.

In early 2025, the parties issued a notice that they wanted to settle their lawsuits by extending the special sales tax for Zona Rosa. Platte County hired attorney Todd Graves and intervened in the lawsuit.

"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 a result of the agreement, Platte County will transfer the parking garages to the transportation development districts in Zona Rosa. The bank and developer also agreed that the county could withdraw from the "public financing scheme", per a news release.