The 3-3 vote means the variances will not be granted, unless a council member opts to have their vote reconsidered.

St. Paul’s City Council blocked a request from the developer of the Ford plant site to build a one-story commercial strip at a major intersection, with a tie vote Wednesday from the shorthanded council.

A tie vote in the St. Paul City Council was as good as a loss for Ryan Cos.'s hopes for a scaled-back project at the Highland Bridge development.

The Ryan Cos. recently asked the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals for variances to install four squat, one-story commercial buildings along Ford Parkway, where the Ford site/Highland Bridge master plan has long envisioned at least four-story commercial or mixed-use buildings.