BUFFALO, NY - If you thought the legal battle over the Queen City landing project was over -- think again.
There could be more hearings in this dispute over developer Gerry Buchheit's plan to build a 23 story apartment tower complex on the site of the old Freezer Queen plant on Fuhrmann Boulevard.
Judge Catherine Nugent Panepinto ruled in favor of Buchheit and the City of Buffalo Planning Board in March, but three environmentalists are now saying they intend to appeal to the State Appellate Division Court in Rochester.
Margaret Wooster, Clayton Jay Burney, and James Carr filed the notice last week. Wooster, who is acting as their own attorney for now, says they are determined to carry on their effort to keep the area as a natural attractive gateway to the city. They still contend the city and developer did not follow procedures for a proper environmental review.
"There is an environmental vulnerability there that has not been fully looked at or assessed. The city and the developer have not really taken a hard look at the vulnerability of this site."
Wooster claim there was recent flooding of the site with higher lake levels at the beginning of April. She also cites concerns over soil stability.
Spokesman Phil Pantano says the development team is getting frustrated with yet another round of legal moves. "It almost seems as if the strategy might be to drown development in a sea of paperwork. Because again it's the same arguments that have been defeated in court, multiple courts, multiple times over the last two years. The same individuals with the same argument that has been defeated and defended in court...multiple courts now, multiple times ."
Pantano says despite notice of this new lawsuit, the developer is now working with the State Department of Environmental Conservation on a plan to clean up contamination at the former brownfield site. That must be completed before any construction can begin.
Pantano says he really did not have a timetable. But he says there is still a lot of interest in Queen City Landing from prospective tenants.