Neighbor’s objections scuttle hotel patio plans

Some couples planning to tie the knot at Hotel at the Lafayette made their decisions, in part, because of multilevel, outdoor patios that were to be built.

The patios are no longer possible, developer Rocco Termini said Thursday, because of objections by a nearby property owner.

Termini, who is renovating the once-rundown Lafayette at a price tag of $42 million, said he was unable to convince Jake Schneider, owner of the adjacent Warehouse Lofts at 210 Ellicott St., that noise from the patios would not disturb his tenants. He would have needed Schneiders approval to buy the alley space from the City of Buffalo.

The patios are not going to happen. The City Charter says adjoining property owners must agree to the sale of the property, and Jake Schneider doesnt think its in the best interest of his property to have noise outside his apartment [building], Termini said.

Im disappointed, but I know the law, and the law is the law.

That was a bitter pill to Kenneth Sciarrino and Tina Danner, who chose the site for their July 21 wedding because of its the turn-of-the-century appeal and patio atmosphere.

It is a huge disappointment, Sciarrino said. The only other option we would have is to change our location, but that would require us to change our wedding date, which cannot happen. Were too far in at this point.

Schneider was out of town and unavailable to comment.

Molly Orton was also disappointed by Schneiders decision. She and Jason Brocious relocated to Cleveland nine months ago and are returning to Buffalo this summer to get married.

I looked at [the Lafayette site] and fell in love with the whole aspect of it. We really love Buffalo, and hope to be back there some day, and wanted to center the wedding in a place that really says Buffalo, Orton said.

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Neighbor’s objections scuttle hotel patio plans