The man who wants to tear down the old Occidental Chemical Building says he’ll do it with or without the city’s help and replace it with much more than just a parking lot.

Developer Frank Parlato Jr. said he’s ready to answer questions raised by City Council members, who pulled a pair of resolutions from the agenda of their Monday night meeting because of concerns about his proposal. Councilman Lewis “Babe” Rotella backed away from a resolution he had introduced that called on Mayor Vince Anello to enter into negotiations with Parlato’s One Niagara LLC on an agreement to “demolish the current structure, fill the AquaFalls hole and construct a surface parking lot.”

“I like the idea of knocking the building down, but I’m not crazy about a parking lot,” Rotella said, in explaining why he filed his resolution. “Now though, I’m told there are some other partners (besides Parlato), they owe back (property) taxes and we need to find out if you can have this kind of public-private partnership.”

Parlato has proposed a plan that calls for the city to float $2.1 million in bonds to finance the project. Another council resolution that would have authorized those bonds was also pulled from Monday’s agenda.

Council Chairman Charles Walker, who was listed as the resolutions author, said he had no idea how it got in the agenda.

“It was filed by the law department and they said it came from the (Anello) administration,” Walker said. “I do have some additional questions (about the proposal). A parking lot? That’s not a good use of that piece of property.”

Parlato bristles at the characterization of his plan as a “parking lot.”

“It’s a misnomer to call this a parking lot. It’s a lot more than that,” he said. “This shouldn’t be characterized as a parking lot. We’re not paving paradise to put up a parking lot.”

The developer said his plan is to tear down the tenant-less, 150,000 square foot former Oxy Chem headquarters and replace it with what he calls a gateway into the Falls.

“We’re making a tourist midway, a welcome center, a tourist amenities center, not a parking lot,” Parlato said. “There is a parking lot, but it is just a fractional part (of the development).”

Parlato says his proposal would create a situation where tourists wanting to enter the state park to view the falls would have to pass by or through his property.

“Instead of all the tourists being routed into the park and (spending all their money there), so Albany gets every dime,” Parlato said, “we will be the official Niagara Falls entrance to the falls and we can promote local businesses and attractions.”

The developer admits he owes $419,791.07 in property taxes to the city, but claims roughly half that amount are taxes due for 2006, that would only be “overdue by a few days.” He said he will pay the taxes in full.

Anello denies that the council resolution that would have authorized the $2.1 million in bonds that Parlato is seeking came from the administration. However, the mayor did say that the city is ready to negotiate with Parlato on his plan.

“What we’re doing is we’re instructing our attorneys to contact Mr. Parlato’s attorneys,” Anello said. ”I haven’t talked to Mr. Parlato, but it’s certainly time for the attorneys to be talking.”

The mayor stopped short of throwing his support to the idea.

“There won’t be any endorsement until all our questions are answered,” he said. “This is just another idea we have to explore. Exploring an idea is not a commitment, but on its face, it looks like a win-win situation.”

For his part, Parlato said he will move head with the project, with or without the city’s help.

“Regardless of whether the city takes me up on the idea of a partnership, I’m going to move with a good, positive deal,” he said. “I’m going to pay the taxes and this will be a success.”