Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - In what amounts to a "cease-and-desist" order, Buffalo leaders are demanding the Seneca Nation of Indians to halt construction of its now-controversial Seneca One-Stop project that, if built, would serve as a gateway into the city's Old First Ward neighborhood.
A letter sanctioned by Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan and written by Rosa Alina Pizzi - Buffalo corporation counsel - and William Rossi - deputy corporation counsel - was addressed to J.C. Seneca, Seneca Nation of Indians president on Monday.
The Seneca Nation could not be reached for comment.
The letter obtained by WBEN asks that all construction activity on the $10 million project cease by 10 a.m., Wednesday, Sept. 30.
"Otherwise we will take legal action," Pizzi and Rossi wrote.
Despite claims that the triangular property nestled between Chicago, Miami and Ohio streets is sovereign territory and not subject to any Buffalo approvals, Pizzi and Rossi say they can find no documentation supporting that claim.
Pizzi and Rossi do acknowledge a Dec. 21, 2022 letter to then-Mayor Byron Brown that says the Seneca Nation used Seneca Nation Settlement Act Funds to acquire the parcel, and they were preparing paperwork to the federal Department of Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs to have the land declared sovereign.
City research indicates under the terms of the existing Seneca Nation Gaming compact, the Nation agreed to use settlement funds "to buy parcels to meet the housing needs of the Nation members."
"The money was explicitly earmarked for SNI housing, not a gas station," Pizzi and Rossi wrote.
Further, the site doesn't meet geographical requirements under the settlement act or compact - both of which require that sovereign land either be adjacent or in close proximity to reservation territory."
Work on the project began in late August and surprised many, especially city officials and those who live in the Old First Ward.
The project would bookend an existing Seneca One Stop on Michigan Avenue, and just across from Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino.
The complex would feature 24 gas pumps and four diesel fuel pumps, along with a convenience store, small grocery store and cannabis dispensary.
Seneca said the project would employ more than 50 construction workers and more than 50 employees when the station opens next summer.
In a Sept. 11 exclusive interview with WBEN, Seneca said he hoped most of the 50 people employed at the new gas station would be Old First Ward or City of Buffalo residents.
Seneca and Seneca Nation leaders meet for more than one hour with Ryan and key city leaders on Sept. 11, and he came away hopeful that issues connected to the gas station project could be resolved.
Further meetings were to be scheduled.
City leaders were concerned not only about the environmental impacts of the gas station, but that it was development-wise the polar opposite of recent projects along Ohio Street and the Old First Ward neighborhood.
"Your plan would undermine massive public investments in the First Ward in recent years and blight the revitalized parkland area beside the Buffalo River," Pizzi and Rossi wrote. "So aside from legal defects, the project is simply not safe, not wise and not wanted."
Buffalo responds to the Seneca Nation gas station under construction in the Old First Ward
Buffalo responds to the Seneca Nation gas station under construction in the Old First Ward
