TAX NEWS - 2010

Niagara Tax: Still awaiting a One Niagara tax ruling

Boniello silent on tax dispute, site plan request for downtown building pulled

NIAGARA FALLS — The ongoing legal battle involving the One Niagara building took an unexpected turn on Thursday.

A day after saying he would rule on the matter within 24 hours, State Supreme Court Justice Ralph Boniello III did not render a decision in a tax payment dispute between One Niagara manager Frank Parlato and Incredible Investments Limited, a company that claims part ownership of the property.

Attorneys representing Parlato and Incredible Investments argued their respective positions in front of Boniello during a hearing on Wednesday.

Incredible Investments has asked the court to force Parlato to make good on outstanding property tax payments at One Niagara. The company is concerned that failure to meet the tax obligations could result in the property being placed on the auction block as part of a pending foreclosure proceeding.

Parlato and his associates have maintained the tax payments are not necessary and other remedies are available that will allow the current owners to maintain control of the building even if it is included as part of an upcoming in-rem foreclosure auction. Parlato has withheld tax payments on the property since 2006 and is continuing to dispute what he maintains is the city's over-assessment of the former Occidental Chemical Corp. building turned visitor center. Parlato also has suggested that Mayor Paul Dyster and his administration have interfered in the building's development by denying key approvals needed to open all nine floors of the building.

Boniello was expected to decide Thursday whether to grant Incredible Investments' request for the appointment of a receiver who would operate One Niagara for the next 60 days while representatives from the company and Parlato attempt to sort out the building's finances.

The judge's decision could come as early as today or perhaps on Monday.

In the meantime, Parlato's associates are attempting to take another route in their bid to secure approval of a site plan at One Niagara.

The building's president Tony Farina on Wednesday decided to pull a request for site plan approval that was pending before the city's planning board. Farina said he made the move when it became apparent to him during Wednesday's meeting that several planning board members were planning to deny Parlato's request for additional time to comply with the board's various requests for site plan changes.

Instead, Farina said he will ask the city's Zoning Board of Appeals to consider granting variances for several of the items requested by the planning board, including what he described as "economically crippling" requirements for landscaping surrounding the building.

"It would really hurt the economic viability of the building," Farina said of the planning board's site plan recommendations.

Incredible Investments' attorney Kevin Burke Jr. questioned the decision, suggesting it may place his clients in even greater jeopardy of being forced to relinquish their stake in the building.

He noted that Parlato is operating the building's ninth floor under a court order that allowed him to open it without a formal site plan in place provided he secured one in a reasonable timeframe. Burke noted that a hearing on the matter is scheduled for July 1. Without a site plan in place, he said he's concerned the entire building could be closed to visitors.

"We're going to lose the certificate of occupancy," Burke predicted.