CRESTWOOD, Mo. — St. Louis County and St. Louis City NAACP representatives stood side by side to call on grocery store chain Dierbergs to put more grocery stores in "underserved" areas on Wednesday.
During a press conference outside of the government officials in Clayton, group leaders expressed concern about a new 70,000-square-foot Dierbergs grocery store under construction in Crestwood.
"It's time for the county as a whole and all municipalities to work together to stop these developers and retailers cash grabs," said John Bowman, president of St. Louis County NAACP.
In 2016, the city of Crestwood approved the redevelopment of 49 acres at the former Crestwood Mall site, using taxpayer dollars through Tax Increment Financing, or TIF.
The NAACP made clear that taxpayer money should support grocery stores in blighted areas, and Dierbergs should invest in north county and St. Louis City.
"It diverts taxpayer dollars that would otherwise go to policing, schools, and fire districts and other taxing districts," Bowman added.
Bowman says he went to a couple of meetings with the city of Crestwood and Dierbergs to express that concern, but was ignored and then sued.
"We will not succumb to bullying tactics by anyone," he said.
"If we're going to continue to allow TIFs to move ahead when they are not necessary. When those dollars are not necessary. Then it may be able to revisit TIFs period in the state of Missouri," said Adolphus Pruitt, the city branch's president.
5 On Your Side received the following statements from both Dierbergs and Crestwood city adminstrator Kris Simpson.
Dierbergs
Dierbergs is very disappointed in the NAACP’s false allegations. For more than 37 years, Dierbergs has proudly served the community of North County by owning and operating a store and commercial shopping center in Florissant.
If solving the problem of food deserts is truly the basis of the NAACP’s objection to the Crestwood project, it is curious as to why the recently approved $353 million TIF project in Chesterfield and other TIF supported projects in St. Louis County have not generated a similar amount of opposition.
Unfortunately, it appears that the NAACP is being manipulated by competitive forces in a futile attempt to stop the much-needed redevelopment of the Crestwood mall site.
City of Crestwood
The NAACP’s lawsuit against the City of Crestwood is a politically-motivated stunt to try and halt the much-needed redevelopment of the former Crestwood Mall site. Crestwood is mounting a vigorous defense against this frivolous act. The City looks forward to continuing with the construction of the mixed use Crestwood Crossing project, and welcoming new residents, businesses, restaurants, retailers, and amenities to the City of Crestwood.
Crestwood supports the NAACP’s mission of addressing food deserts around the county, however the City of Crestwood has no control over what developments take place in other cities. The NAACP’s lawsuit can in no way achieve their stated goal, and was instead brought for the collateral purpose of applying public relations and political pressure to encourage development elsewhere in St. Louis County. As such, the City filed a counterclaim lawsuit arguing that this improper use of the courts constitutes abuse of process. Each press release given by NAACP President John Bowman provides additional credence to the City's legal position.
Regardless of the counterclaim, the lawsuit as a whole is a waste of the NAACP’s precious time and money. Members and supporters of the NAACP should be disappointed that the leadership is not focused on fulfilling the noble and core missions of the NAACP, but instead is taking this organization once again in a troubling direction, akin to the NAACP’s support of the flawed Better Together plan several years ago, and the dubious Lambert airport privatization proposal.