The Niagara Falls City Council is once again being asked to delay, for another year, implementation of a zoning ordinance restricting student housing and other group living arrangements in residential neighborhoods.
The resolution to delay implementation of the ordinance amendment was last before the council at its July 31 meeting. Council Member David Zajac moved the approval of the amendment, but it failed when no other council member would second Zajac’s motion.
The ordinance was originally approved to address complaints about quality of life and housing affordability in the DeVeaux neighborhood of the city, where an influx of rental properties, marketed to Niagara University students, has drawn concern from residents.
The resolution to delay the implementation of the zoning code amendment was requested by the city’s Department of Planning. It would change the effective date of the local ordinance from June 1, 2027 to June 1, 2028.
This would be the third time since the zoning code amendment was adopted by the council in 2024 that city lawmakers have been asked to delay its implementation.
DeVeaux residents have asked council members not to approve any further delays in implementing the new restrictions. Supporters of the zoning code change have argued that allowing student housing in neighborhoods zoned as residential blocks people from buying homes, raises rents and subjects those who live in the neighborhood to rowdy and raucous behavior from students.
“I’ve seen too many NU students move into single-family homes because NU won’t modernize their dorms or build new student housing,” DeVeaux resident Sharon Bailey said. “Residents and homeowners shouldn’t be asked to endure another year of (bad) behavior by NU students. We shouldn’t have to bear the burden while Main Street redevelopment gets worked out.”
City planners have blamed “delays in a development project that will provide affected students with an alternative location to reside together in a commercial area of Main Street” as the reason behind changing the local ordinance effective date.
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.
Niagara University officials have previously said that they “wholeheartedly” endorse the zoning code changes.