Nov. 13 -- Niagara Falls City Council members are being asked to modify a recently approved local ordinance that will amend the city's zoning code and further restrict "group living arrangements," in residentially zoned neighborhoods.
The new ordinance, billed as addressing quality of life and affordability issues in the Falls' DeVeaux neighborhood, is particularly targeted at so-called student housing.
The council is being asked to amend the effective date of the zoning code change from June 1, 2025, to June 1, 2026.
In a memo to council members, Mayor Robert Restaino wrote that the change is necessary because of a "delay in the anticipated receipt of of the properties on north Main Street which will serve as the basis for new university student housing." City Planning Director Kevin Forma said the change is "based upon delays in construction that will provide affected students with an alternative location to reside together."
Council members have scheduled a public hearing for 6 p.m. Nov. 20 to hear comments on the proposed amendment.
In July, the council authorized the transfer of $1.5 million in tribal revenue funds to the city's Urban Renewal Agency (NFURA) to buy 38 properties -- 22 on north Main Street and 16 on neighboring side streets -- from Blue Cardinal Capital and the Rapids Theatre. The Blue Cardinal properties include a pair of empty lots and dozens of mostly vacant commercial buildings, including the old Jenss department store in the 1700 block of Main Street.
All of those properties are currently in bank foreclosure proceedings.
In the last two weeks, the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency authorized the transfer of the balance of the available cash in its Cataract Tourism Fund -- roughly $204,000 -- to NFURA to assist in the property acquisitions. The Falls Water Board also agreed to a NFURA request to waive the collection of almost $100,000 in unpaid water and sewer bills to help with the property purchases.
Restaino has said that the purchase of the properties will allow the city, the state, Niagara County and the Niagara Orleans Land Bank to control future development in the blighted Main Street corridor by blocking a single developer from acquiring all or a majority of the properties.
The acquisition has also been linked to plans by a Buffalo developer, believed to be Nick Sinatra, to acquire the old Jenss' building from the city to convert it into student housing and plans by Niagara University to invest in new targeted student housing development in the North End/Main Street corridor of the city.
In his memo to the council, Restaino wrote that delays in the NFURA's acquisition of the properties have been "outside the control of city government." The mayor said he hopes to see the NFURA take control of the Rapids and the Blue Cardinal properties by January.
The zoning code changes have been unanimously recommended to the council by the Niagara County Planning Board. A divided Niagara Falls Planning Board also recommended that the council adopt the changes.
Residents of the DeVeaux neighborhood have been pleading with city leaders to address what they have described as "years of conflict over the widespread use of single-family residences (primarily in DeVeaux) as housing for students attending Niagara University."
Niagara University Vice President of Students Affairs Christopher Sheffield has previously said that the university "whole-heartedly" endorses the zoning code changes.
"While the overwhelming number of students (living off-campus) are respectful, we recognize a minority of students have caused disruptions in the DeVeaux neighborhood," Sheffield said.
The zoning code amendments are modeled after legislation created by the city council in Binghamton which had wrestled with issues between residential homeowners and students at the State University of New York campus there.
The proposed changes would more strictly define the terms "family," "group living" and "Duplex/Semi Detached." The zoning amendments would prohibit student housing in R1 and R2 zoned residential districts. Group homes, rectories, and specially permitted bed and breakfast uses would still be allowed in R1 and R2 neighborhoods.