With St. Louis city officials poised to force the shutdown of Larry Rice's controversial homeless "shelter of last resort" downtown tomorrow, saying they have found alternative housing for its residents, a nonprofit law group is saying "not so fast."Arch City Defenders, the local firm behind many successful lawsuits targeting municipalities, has filed both a motion for a temporary restraining order and class action lawsuit against the city in St. Louis Circuit Court, seeking to order the city not to follow through on its plans to move residents previously housed by Rice's shelter into a warehouse used by its Forestry Division.
The warehouse is "intended for forestry, gardening equipment, various city-owned motor vehicles" and "contains hazardous materials and chemicals and is not suitable for habitability by humans," the lawsuit argues. The suit was filed under the names of three homeless residents, but seeks to represent anyone who could be forced to rely on the city's accommodations.
A hearing has been scheduled today for 3:30 p.m.…