The City of Buffalo has formally ordered the Seneca Nation to stop construction of a planned fueling station on Ohio Street or face legal action, Mayor Sean Ryan announced Monday.
His administration is objecting to the Seneca Nation’s claim that the property is outside the City of Buffalo’s jurisdiction because it is either currently or could one day become restricted-fee land.
In a letter sent to the Nation’s president, J.C. Seneca, the city’s Corporation Counsel, Rosa Alina Pizzi, argues the property was not purchased with funds available from the Seneca Nation Settlement Act, and therefore it does not meet the requirement for restricted-fee status. She also argues the Senecas, under a 2006 agreement with the City of Buffalo, would not pursue additional land within Buffalo under the Settlement Act for gaming operations.
“SNI has provided no documentation to support the claim that the Site is sovereign territory,” she writes in the letter. “We are, however, aware of a one-page letter from SNI to former Mayor Brown, dated December 21, 2022. The letter claimed that SNI ‘used [Seneca Nation] Settlement Act funds to purchase the Miami Street Parcels’ and was ‘prepared to submit the Miami Street Parcels to the Department of the Interior for confirmation of their status as restricted fee.’ The letter does not specify when or how that ‘submission’ would take place. But, in any event, the Settlement Act does not apply here.” (The full letter may be found below.)
Ryan said the city is demanding the Seneca Nation not only halt construction immediately but confirm in writing it has done so by 10 a.m. on Wednesday.
“This is not a good fit for this neighborhood, and it runs counter to the vision we have been building for this corridor for more than a decade,” Ryan said in a written statement. “We have made a major public investment to transform Ohio Street from an industrial roadway into a waterfront corridor where people can live, walk, bike, and spend time. The private sector has followed that investment with new housing, businesses, and recreational destinations. We should be building on that momentum, not going in the opposite direction.”
President JC Seneca issued a statement late Monday afternoon: “I was disappointed to receive a hostile letter from Sean Ryan regarding the work we are doing on sovereign Seneca Nation land. It is especially disappointing, given the meetings we had less than three weeks ago with Sean Ryan, Mitch Nowakowski, one of the City’s Deputy Mayors and two members of the City’s legal department. Those meetings seemed to open a process for dialogue between our governments to talk through the City’s concerns. The City has clearly chosen a different path.
“Let me be equally clear: the Seneca Nation will continue to develop our proposed Seneca One Stop project on our sovereign land. We believe our project will enhance the development that has taken place in the area in the years since our Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino provided a catalyst for the area’s rebirth. We have also been working with others in the neighborhood to create continuity between our project and the work they have done in recent years.
“The Seneca Nation will fight against any aggressive acts by New York’s Executive Chamber and any local governments that oppose our sovereign nation’s ability to create economic development to benefit our people and create jobs for the local community. The Seneca Nation will always defend our sovereignty, our treaties, and our rights to create economic opportunity on our lands in the way we best see fit for the benefit of our people.”
The Ohio Street neighborhood has undergone an $11.3 million reconstruction project, aimed at creating a new residential, commercial, and recreational development along the corridor.
"Buffalo has spent years reshaping the Old First Ward into an area that can support people living, working, and spending time along the waterfront," said Fillmore District Council Member Mitch Nowakowski in a prepared statement. "We have seen significant investment, and residents and stakeholders in the neighborhood have every right to have a say in its future. My office has been hearing from neighbors who are deeply concerned about the proposed fuel depot, and I take those concerns seriously. A 28-bay fuel depot is simply inconsistent with the surrounding neighborhood and the direction this corridor has taken."