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Business First of Buffalo - 1:48 PM EST Tuesday

Lawsuit filed against Buffalo casino

James Fink

Business First

Saying they are "calling the bluff" of the Seneca Gaming Corp., an anti-casino group Tuesday morning took the first step in an attempt to stop a proposed Buffalo casino.

The group of local individuals, civic and political leaders and the Margaret L. Wendt Foundation Tuesday filed a motion in U.S. Federal Court in opposition to the Seneca's plan. They allege the Seneca Gaming Corp., the casino arm of the Seneca Nation of Indians, failed to meet several federal requirements and guidelines dictated by the Seneca Nation Settlement Act, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and other federal provisions. Seneca Gaming plans to build the 100,000-square-foot gaming venue in Buffalo's Cobblestone District.

The opposition group has also voiced concerns about the environmental impact from either the casino and the historic status of the targeted site, which includes the long-vacant, circa 1912 H&O Oats grain elevators.

"This is not a done deal," said Joseph Finnerty, a partner in Stenger & Finnerty, coordinating counsel for the plaintiffs. "Procedures that should have been used were evaded. The Senecas are dealing you off the bottom of their deck."

Representatives from the Seneca Nation of Indians declined to comment.

Seneca Gaming Corp. began work on the Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino on Dec. 8, just 24 hours before a mandated deadline expired. The deadline was spelled out in a 2002 compact between the Seneca Nation of Indians and Gov. George Pataki. That deal cleared the way for casinos in Niagara Falls and Salamanca and a third in Buffalo.

Finnerty, along with other members of the plaintiff team, contend the casino will have a negative impact on Buffalo including scaring away companies and private developers from investing in the city.

Casino supporters say the gaming venue, which is slated to open next year, will employ more than 1,000 people and produce an estimated $7 million in new revenues for cash-poor Buffalo in its first year of operation.

Not so, says Finnerty.

"Good jobs will be driven away," he said. "It will destroy waterfront development and will not promote private development along its peripheral. It will kill it (development)."

While the initial paperwork was filed Tuesday morning in federal court and it has been assigned to Federal Judge John Elfvin, it may be sometime before the case is heard, or even the most preliminary of hearings is held.

Many of the litigants had not yet been served with notice of the filing as of mid-morning Tuesday and all will be given a chance to respond.

"You can't predict what the courts will do," admitted Richard Lippes, another local attorney involved with the case.