The owner of the former AquaFalls site released details Tuesday of a settlement he reached with Niagara Falls in April that allowed him to operate the nine-story glass building for six months without fully meeting the city’s regulations.

A city attorney, citing “ongoing litigation,” refused to release the stipulation of settlement last week to either members of the Niagara Falls City Council or the public after council members questioned the deal.

The April 25 settlement, negotiated between attorney Paul Grenga and city Assistant Corporation Counsel Christopher Mazur, allows Frank Parlato Jr. to operate the renamed One Niagara building as if approvals for zoning ordinances, tour sale regulations and signage requirements had already been granted as he works toward complying with the city’s codes.

Parlato said he met all safety codes before he opened a food court and vending sites on the first floor of the building.

“This is not a secret deal,” Parlato said.

Council members raised concerns last week that Mayor Vince Anello’s administration had kept details of the agreement from them.

“Usually they come to us to OK an agreement. This time they didn’t,” said Councilman Lewis “Babe” Rotella. “It just shows another distance between the administration and the council. Why not let us know?”

Although Parlato has a temporary certificate of occupancy from the city to operate the first floor of the building, he has not met all non-safety building codes and has not received approval from the Planning Board for exterior changes he has planned.

A local company has been operating a tour booth and information center from the building although the site does not yet have a special use permit from the city to operate as a tourism information site.

According to a copy of the settlement provided by Parlato, the deal sets deadlines under which he must work toward complete code compliance. The document required “the former AquaFalls excavation to be filled and graded within sixty days.”

Parlato said the agreement allowed him to open the building during the tourist season as he moved through the city’s approval process.

The site, located at 360 Rainbow Blvd., had been vacant since the U.S. Small Business Administration moved its disaster assistance office from the building in June 2005. Parlato, who bought the building in December 2004, reopened it as a tourist hub with a paid parking lot this summer.

Parlato said he has spent $1 million on filling a hole left by a failed project to build an underground aquarium on the site and renovating the first floor of the building. He said he had to choose between paying back taxes on the empty building or spending money on construction work to reopen it to tourists.

The building had $620,517 in unpaid city, school and county taxes at the end of July.

“I’ve got to see results,” Parlato said. “I’ve got to take action.”

The city’s Department of Inspections cited Parlato last year for violating three city building ordinances. The settlement suspended the litigation as he sought approval for the building changes.

Grenga, a close friend of City Administrator Daniel Bristol, struck the deal with Mazur to ease enforcement of the regulations after six months of negotiations. Parlato said he initially hired Grenga for another legal matter and has not received any special treatment because of his work in negotiating the deal.

“My perception is that every person that I dealt with in City Hall has been extremely ethical, extremely fair,” Parlato said.