RALEIGH - Mayor Charles Meeker laid out his argument Thursday against offering tax breaks for the planned commercial development North Hills East.

Developer John Kane wants $75 million in public money to build parking decks for North Hills East, a project planned for 45 acres across Six Forks Road from the existing North Hills shopping center.

In a recent presentation to county commissioners and a number of media interviews, Kane has said the public financing, which would be repaid with tax revenue from the project, would allow him to build a high-density, mixed-use project instead of the usual sprawling strip mall.

But Meeker said in a memo to the city manager, city attorney and Wake County manager that commercial development is already strong in the North Hills area, making the incentives unnecessary.

"It is not good public policy to provide subsidies in development in areas of our City where development is already occurring," Meeker said in the memo.

The proposal, which would exempt the project from 75 percent of its local taxes for the first 20 years, has earned the unanimous support of Wake County commissioners.

Meeker questioned Kane's estimate of how much larger the future tax base of a development at that site would be with public financing and suggested that the refunding of taxes in the plan might violate state law.

Kane took issue with Meeker releasing a memo to the media specifically criticizing his own project.

"I don't understand why he's attacking our project," Kane said.

Kane said the city should focus on adopting a general policy regarding such tax breaks and then see whether his project fits. He also said his latest proposal adhered to the requirements laid out in Wake County's policy regarding public financing.

Kane said at this point he is waiting to see what the council will do, though he admitted he can't wait forever.

"At some point we'll have to force the issue," he said.

Meeker noted in the memo that the project had not been formally proposed to the City Council. But, he said, he decided to weigh in because the project is being promoted and has been discussed widely in the media.