NIAGARA FALLS - City Judge Mark A. Violante recused himself from a yearlong case Monday in the middle of a trial that was to have settled the city's lawsuit against developer Frank Parlato Jr. over several code violations at the former Occidental Chemical office building.

"The defendant advised the court he is in the process of suing the judge and there was a conflict of interest," said City Corporation Counsel Damon DeCastro after the canceled trial. "The notice of claim had been filed July 28. [Parlato] alleged on the record that the judge appeared he could not be impartial due to the fact that he was [being sued]."

DeCastro said the trial will now have to be rescheduled and could be taken over by a judge in North Tonawanda or Lockport.

The city has cited Parlato over the last year with six code violations for unsafe sidewalks, an illegal parking lot and failure to gain proper site plan approval, DeCastro said.

Parlato's attorney, Paul Grenga, could not be reached Monday, and it was unclear why he hadn't notified the judge that his client was suing him.

Parlato told The Buffalo News last month that he was suing the City Court because he believes he was falsely arrested in May. He said Violante issued a bench warrant for his arrest when he didn't attend a winter hearing regarding the violations.

Parlato said he and Grenga, as well as the city attorneys, were never informed of the hearing date. The developer says he is not seeking any money but wants the way police officers arrest someone for non-criminal offenses to be altered. He was handcuffed in front of his employees, he said, and held in an uncomfortably warm jail cell until his attorney was able to have him released without charges.

Parlato operates the bottom floor of the nine-story vacant office building as a retail and souvenir business aimed at tourists and began major renovations this year. He also operates a paid parking lot on the gravel space in front of the building.

However, City Inspections Director Guy Bax condemned the building at 360 Rainbow Blvd earlier this month because he said Parlato has not completed all the building code requirements that need to be met under the property's new retail use. DeCastro said those sprinkler and fire alarm requirements still had not been met as of Monday.

Parlato has continued to operate the building despite the posted condemnation sign on the front door that says it is unlawful for anyone to enter or occupy the building.

"We cited Parlato as well as other sites downtown. They are normally given 30 days to come into compliance unless it's a life safety issue and that happens all the time," DeCastro said. "What doesn't happen all the time is the owners keep operating and don't come into compliance. This is the first time in 25 years where [a business] wasn't in compliance and did not move forward" to gain compliance.

Parlato could not be reached Monday, but he said last week that he felt he was being unfairly targeted for code enforcement. He also said an April 25 settlement he made with the city regarding the code violations allowed him to operate his business for six months while he worked to gain code compliance and Planning Board approval, and he believes that agreement is being violated.

When asked whether the city now believes it was a mistake to let Parlato bypass the usual requirements before he was allowed to operate his business, DeCastro declined to comment but pointed out that some improvements have been made to the property under that settlement.

email: gfranklin@buffnews.com