Latest news with #NiagaraFallsRedevelopment
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Planning boards will weigh NFR request to modify high energy use industries restrictions
The Niagara Falls City Council has voted to 'accept as complete' a request from Niagara Falls Redevelopment (NFR) asking the city to amend its zoning code and modify recently enacted restrictions on high-energy use industries so that it can move forward with its proposed $1.5 billion data center campus in the South End. Council members also approved taking on the role of 'Lead Agency' in the environmental review of the proposed zoning code changes. The vote to accept the change application was 3-2 with Council Members Brian Archie (D), Donta Myles (D) and David Zajac (R) in favor. Council Chair James Perry (D) and Member Traci Bax (R) were opposed. Perry and Bax attacked the application as an attempt to undue a series of amendments to the Falls zoning code, adopted in 2022, after public protests over noise and other complaints about the operation of high-energy use industries, like data centers and bitcoin mines, in the city. 'This would be the first step in undoing (the high-energy use overlay zoning requirements),' Perry said. Bax said the council has fought hard, including winning a series of court challenges, to defend the tough restrictions on high-energy use industries. 'We've held the bitcoin operators' feet to the fire,' Bax said. 'We shouldn't stop now.' Archie noted that the application would be referred to both the city and county planning boards and would need to come back to the council for action after their review. 'I'm OK with it,' the council member said, 'because it's just going to the planning board.' An attorney for NFR, Melissa Valle, admitted that her clients were looking to change both the city zoning code and the Falls' zoning map. But she called the changes 'minor' and described the noise restrictions as lower than background noise. 'The time is now to revisit this law,' Valle said. 'These are very minor changes.' The council action will send NFR's request to the Niagara County and city planning boards for hearings and recommendations. Those agencies are also currently considering an NFR application to establish a Negotiated Planned Development District, also known as a Planned Unit District (PUD) for the purpose of developing its proposed digital data center campus in the South End. The first stage of the project, which NFR has dubbed 'Data Center at Niagara Digital Campus PUD,' is projected to occupy the same parcel of 12 to 15 acres of prime South End tourist district land that the city has proposed to use for its Centennial Park project. Control of that land has already been awarded to the city through the courts by an eminent domain proceeding. The city has also recently filed a claim that asserts that roughly 5 acres of the disputed land, formerly the 10th Street Park, was never properly transferred to NFR as part of a 2003 settlement of an earlier lawsuit between the Falls and the South End land owner. The council has specifically stated that nothing in its actions on NFR's applications 'waives any rights of the city to recover the park property.' NFR has said its data center campus project 'is anticipated to bring 5,600 jobs to Niagara Falls during construction, as well as more than 550 permanent jobs when all phases of the data center are up and running.' NFR's original project application, filed in October, was determined to be incomplete by city planners. At close to 700 pages, the application calls for the Data Center at Niagara Digital Campus to be developed in five phases. The campus would include eight two-story buildings and one one-story building, for a total of 1,232,715 square feet of space. The full development would cover approximately 53 acres of what NFR has described as 'mostly vacant land.' The property would be bounded by John B. Daly Boulevard, Falls Street, 15th Street and Buffalo Avenue. Included in the application, in addition to the rezoning request, are copies of traffic and noise studies, an environmental and energy impact plan, a full environment assessment form, a verified ownership petition, a survey and legal description, a historical property assessment, and aerial maps showing the placement of the data center and various other key elements of the plan. The project application was originally filed just over a month after New York's highest court, the Court of Appeals, rejected a second appeal by NFR seeking to have its justices weigh in on the legality of the use of eminent domain to take NFR's land, described as 907 Falls St. and an adjacent portion of property along John Daly Memorial Parkway, for the proposed Centennial Park project. The council has also acted to authorize a more than $4 million offer to pay for the eminent domain land parcels.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Appeals court ruling ignites war of words between city and NFR
A new war of words has erupted between Niagara Falls Mayor Robert Restaino and South End land owner Niagara Falls Redevelopment (NFR) in the aftermath of a ruling by a state appellate court that has affirmed the city's use of an eminent domain proceeding to acquire 10 to 12 acres of land for the proposed Centennial Park project. Both the mayor and NFR released statements addressing the latest ruling from the Appellate Division Fourth Department of New York State Supreme Court which rejected a request from NFR asking that the appeals panel overturn its previous eminent domain ruling based on efforts by city officials to reclaim ownership of approximately 5 of the roughly 12 acres of property subject to the eminent domain decision because NFR never properly gained title to what was previously the 10th Street Park. An NFR spokesperson expressed disappointment with the latest ruling. '... we have argued for years that the taking of private property for so speculative a project as Centennial Park is illegal — particularly when, two years after it was authorized by the city council, there still has been no feasibility study completed to show the best location for the mayor's unfunded and tenantless event center,' spokesman James Haggerty wrote in an email to the Gazette. Restiano argued that NFR is simply trying to stall development in the city with its legal challenges. 'The ruling by the New York State Appellate Division clearly demonstrates that Niagara Falls Redevelopment is running out of legal options in its latest attempt to persuade the courts to reject the city's eminent domain action in our efforts to build Centennial Park,' the mayor said in a statement released to news media. 'NFR owns approximately 140 acres of property in downtown Niagara Falls and the fact that they are pulling out all the stops fighting the city over a few acres in which we are offering a fair market value for is revealing.' NFR filed a motion with the Appellate Division in March asking the justices there to review and reverse their July 28, 2023, unanimous ruling that the city was justified in seeking to use eminent domain to take up to 12 acres of undeveloped land for its park and events center project. Lawyers for NFR had argued that the claim by the city that it already owns some of the proposed park property, based on newly discovered evidence, 'probably would have produced a different result' if the appeals court justices had been aware of it in 2023. In an unsigned, three-sentence decision released on Friday, the court wrote, 'Now upon reading and filing the papers with respect to the motion, and due deliberation having been had thereon, it is hereby ordered that the motion is denied.' Haggerty noted that the city and NFR are now locked in a legal battle over who actually owns the former 10th Street Park property, within the eminent domain acreage footprint. The Niagara Falls City Council has directed the city's corporation counsel to 'take all necessary steps to commence any and all legal action ... in order to declare the transfer of (10th Street Playground, 907 Falls St.) null and void.' The city's special counsel for the Centennial Park project, the Buffalo-based law firm of Hodgson Russ, has filed what is known as a quiet title action to reclaim the former parkland. Haggerty said NFR has 'invested millions of dollars (in the park) preparing for the Niagara Digital Campus', its proposed $1.5 billion nine-building data center project. 'Through court-supervised document disclosures and depositions, we will learn how — and by whom — this new idea was hatched, and whether the mayor's scheme is simply aimed at trying to lower the valuation of NFR's property,' Haggerty wrote. 'Sadly, taxpayers continue to pay legal fees for all the mayor's litigation, and are forced to watch as, for reasons nobody understands, he works to prevent NFR from building its economy-transforming, privately funded, $1.5 billion data center. Despite recent action by the city council to have the data center project proposal reviewed by the county and city Planning Boards and the city's Zoning Board of Appeals, officials have said they do not believe NFR will ever build the project. 'NFR has accused the city for 25 years that their rationale for not developing one acre of property they own was due to the lack of development by the city in and around NFR's footprint,' Restaino said. 'This is not about a multi-billion-dollar data center as proposed by NFR, that without the disputed acreage of 10th Street Park will not happen, it's about a continued illogical pattern of preventing Niagara Falls from fulfilling its potential as a true world-class tourism destination.'
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Appeals court rejects NFR effort to re-open Centennial Park eminent domain case
A state appellate court has again rejected a request from a South End land owner to overturn its decision in an eminent domain proceeding seeking 10 to 12 acres of land for the proposed Centennial Park project. The request, by Niagara Falls Redevelopment (NFR) and an affiliated company, Blue Apple Properties Inc., came in response to efforts by city officials to reclaim ownership of approximately 5 of the roughly 12 acres of property subject to the eminent domain ruling because NFR never properly gained title to what was previously the 10th Street Park. NFR filed a motion in the Appellate Division Fourth Department of New York State Supreme Court in March asking the justices there to review and reverse their July 28, 2023, unanimous ruling that the city was justified in seeking to use eminent domain to take up to 12 acres of undeveloped land for the park and events center project. Lawyers for NFR had argued that the claim by the city that it already owns some of the proposed park property, based on newly discovered evidence, 'probably would have produced a different result' if the appeals court justices had been aware of it in 2023. 'Because this new evidence is manifestly inconsistent with the facts on which (the July 2023 ruling) is based, (NFR) respectfully asks this Court to vacate (the ruling),' NFR's lead lawyer, John Horn, wrote in a filing with the Fourth Department. Horn also asked the appeals court to 'reject and annul' findings by the Niagara Falls Common Council that the proposed park project would be a public benefit or serve a public purpose. In a blunt, but unsigned, three-sentence decision released on Friday, the court wrote, 'Now upon reading and filing the papers with respect to the motion, and due deliberation having been had thereon, it is hereby ordered that the motion is denied.' Mayor Robert Restaino did not comment on the appeals court ruling. A spokesman for NFR could not immediately be reached for comment. In their original ruling, the Appellate Division justices wrote that 'the city's determination to exercise its eminent domain power 'is rationally related to a conceivable public purpose.'' The justices said they came to that conclusion because the Centennial Park proposal would develop parkland and other recreational space as well as 'revitalizing and redeveloping a longstanding vacant lot, which was a blight on the city.' The Niagara Falls City Council has directed the city's corporation counsel to 'take all necessary steps to commence any and all legal action ... in order to declare the transfer of (10th Street Playground, 907 Falls St.) null and void.' The city's special counsel for the Centennial Park project, the Buffalo-based law firm of Hodgson Russ, has filed what is known as a quiet title action to reclaim the former parkland. A quiet title action is a legal proceeding where a lawsuit is filed to establish clear ownership of a property. The city claims the transfer of the playground property in 2004 was not properly completed. NFR has insisted the property was 'lawfully' transferred, and is fighting the quiet title action.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Falls accepts NFR data center proposal for further review
The Niagara Falls City Council voted unanimously Wednesday night to 'accept as complete' an application filed with city planners by Niagara Falls Redevelopment (NFR) to establish a Negotiated Planned Development District, also known as a Planned Unit District (PUD) for the purpose of developing a proposed $1.5 billion data center campus in the South End. Council members also approved taking on the role of 'Lead Agency' in the environmental review of the project. NFR's application was also referred to the Niagara Falls and Niagara County planning boards and the city's Zoning Board of Appeals for further consideration. Members had a few questions for acting City Corporation Counsel Thomas DeBoy regarding the application. DeBoy told Member Brian Archie (D) that NFR does not own all of the roughly 53 acres of land that would comprise the total project. 'But that doesn't prevent them from filing the application,' he said. The first stage of the project, which NFR has dubbed 'Data Center at Niagara Digital Campus PUD,' is projected to occupy the same parcel of 12 to 15 acres of prime South End tourist district land that the city has proposed to use for its Centennial Park project. Control of that land has already been awarded to the city through the courts by an eminent domain proceeding. The city has also recently filed a claim that asserts that roughly 5 acres of the disputed land, formerly the 10th Street Park, was never properly transferred to NFR as part of a 2003 settlement of an earlier lawsuit between the Falls and the South End land owner. The resolution, approved by the council, specifically states that nothing contained in it 'waives any rights of the city to recover the park property.' Asked by Council Member Donta Myles if approving the application could lead to 'more litigation', DeBoy told him, 'You could be sued either way you vote.' NFR has said its data center campus project 'is anticipated to bring 5,600 jobs to Niagara Falls during construction, as well as more than 550 permanent jobs when all phases of the data center are up and running.' NFR's original project application, filed in October, was determined to be incomplete by city planners. At almost 500 pages then, the application called for the Data Center at Niagara Digital Campus to be developed in five phases. The campus would include eight two-story buildings and one one-story building, for a total of 1,232,715 square feet of space. The full development would cover approximately 53 acres of what NFR has described as 'mostly vacant land.' The property would be bounded by John B. Daly Boulevard, Falls Street, 15th Street and Buffalo Avenue. Included in the application is a rezoning request, copies of traffic and noise studies, an environmental and energy impact plan, a full environment assessment form, a verified ownership petition, a survey and legal description, a historical property assessment, and aerial maps showing the placement of the data center and various other key elements of the plan. The project application was originally filed just over a month after New York's highest court, the Court of Appeals, rejected a second appeal by NFR seeking to have its justices weigh in on the legality of the use of eminent domain to take NFR's land, described as 907 Falls St. and an adjacent portion of property along John Daly Memorial Parkway, for the proposed Centennial Park project. After the appeals court ruling, Mayor Robert Restaino said the city would move forward with 'a valuation and acquisition' of the property where NFR wants to build its first proposed data center building. The city council is currently weighing an appraised bid on the property of more than $4 million.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Niagara Falls City Council will consider accepting NFR data center application
The Niagara Falls City Council will consider a resolution at its meeting tonight to 'accept as complete' an application filed with city planners by Niagara Falls Redevelopment (NFR) to establish a Negotiated Planned Development District, also known as a Planned Unit District (PUD) for the purpose of developing a proposed $1.5 billion data center campus in the South End. Council members will also be asked to approve taking on the role of 'Lead Agency' in the environmental review of the project. If approved, the resolution would refer NFR's application to the Falls and Niagara County planning boards and the city's Zoning Board of Appeals for further consideration. The first stage of the project, which NFR has dubbed 'Data Center at Niagara Digital Campus PUD,' is projected to occupy the same parcel of 12 to 15 acres of prime South End tourist district land that the city has proposed to use for its Centennial Park project. Control of that land has also been awarded to the city through the courts by an eminent domain proceeding. The city has recently filed a claim that asserts that roughly 5 acres of the disputed land, formerly the 10th Street Park, was never properly transferred to NFR as part of a 2003 settlement of an earlier lawsuit between the Falls and the South End land owner. The resolution specifically states that nothing contained in it 'waives any rights of the city to recover the park property.' NFR has said its data center campus project 'is anticipated to bring 5,600 jobs to Niagara Falls during construction, as well as more than 550 permanent jobs when all phases of the data center are up and running.' NFR's original project application, filed in October, was determined to be incomplete by city planners. At almost 500 pages then, the application called for the Data Center at Niagara Digital Campus to be developed in five phases. The campus would include eight two-story buildings and one one-story building, for a total of 1,232,715 square feet of space. The full development would cover approximately 53 acres of what NFR has described as 'mostly vacant land.' The property would be bounded by John B. Daly Boulevard, Falls Street, 15th Street and Buffalo Avenue. Included in the application is a rezoning request, copies of traffic and noise studies, an environmental and energy impact plan, a full environment assessment form, a verified ownership petition, a survey and legal description, a historical property assessment, and aerial maps showing the placement of the data center and various other key elements of the plan. It was originally filed just over a month after New York's highest court, the Court of Appeals rejected a second appeal by NFR seeking to have its justices weigh in on the legality of the use of eminent domain to take NFR's land, described as 907 Falls St. and an adjacent portion of property along John Daly Memorial Parkway, for the proposed Centennial Park project. After the appeals court ruling, Mayor Robert Restaino said the city would move forward with 'a valuation and acquisition' of the property where NFR wants to build its first proposed data center building. The city council is weighing an appraised bid on the property of more than $4 million.
