The fight over an agreement that could mandate wages, jobs and other benefits at Buffalo's

Canal Side escalated Monday when developers suggested that part of the downtown site might not

be developed if the Common Council insists on such a pact.

Jordan A. Levy, chairman of Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp., said his organization

wants to work with the Council but will proceed with the Canal Side project with or without

the 12 acres owned by the city. The land in question is beneath the Skyway around Marine

Drive.

BuffaloNews.com Live: Video and audio from the meeting

Council members, many of them strong advocates of a Community Benefits Agreement, are using

the land as leverage in trying to convince developers that such a mandate is needed.

"If the Council decides not to sell us that land, we simply won't develop it," Levy said

during a Council committee meeting.

Council members showed no signs of backing off their support of a CBA, a legally binding

contract covering requirements for benefits including jobs and wages.

Several lawmakers suggested that the Harbor Development Corp. should, at the very least,

sit down and talk with community groups advocating an agreement.

"I'm hoping it deals in good faith with all the organizations," Niagara Council Member

David A. Rivera said of the state agency overseeing the $294 million development. "I think we

all, in the end, want to see a better project. And I think we will once we start talking to

each other."

Backers of a CBA want it to ensure that, among other things, small local businesses get a

significant share of the project's retail space; that the development use "green" technology;

that it include local and minority hiring goals; and that Canal Side jobs pay a "living wage"

higher than the state's minimum wage.

Levy made it clear after the meeting that he has no intention of meeting with any of the

groups advocating a CBA. He said the Harbor Development Corp. met twice with CBA advocates,

only to learn that they also were lobbying the city and county.

"They think they're going to muscle us into a decision," he said. "That's not the way I do

business."

CBA backers said their request for support from the Council and Erie County Legislature

came only after the Harbor Development Corp. indicated that it would never agree to a CBA.

"They were unequivocally unwilling to agree to a legally binding agreement," said Micaela

Shapiro-Shellaby, an organizer at the Coalition for Economic Justice. "The only leverage we

have now is in working with the Common Council."

The groups pushing a CBA — and there are dozens — say the goal is to make Canal

Side better by ensuring that the community receives benefits from the large public investment

in the project.

They also believe that a formal agreement would ensure community support for the

development and avoid opposition down the road.

"Negotiating a CBA is nothing more than insisting on responsible development," Shapiro-

Shellaby said.

CBA supporters are hoping the Council, which has endorsed the idea, will use its leverage

— the city owns 12 of the project's 21 acres — to bring about a formal agreement.

Council members who support a CBA said they're concerned that without one, the project

could result in lawsuits down the road.

"It's always better to talk," said Council President David A. Franczyk of the Fillmore

District. "Let's see how far apart they really are."

Opponents of a CBA view it as one more obstacle to getting Canal Side — the latest

step in Buffalo's long-awaited waterfront revitalization — off the ground. Others

suggest the problem is not the CBA, but rather the specific, and some say extreme, demands

made by groups pushing it.

At the core of the dispute is whether any agreement should mandate a "living wage," a

requirement Levy contends would hurt his organization's recruitment of local and national

retailers.

"We don't believe a CBA is in the best interest of the community," he told Council members

Monday.

CBA advocates said their initial demands, including the living wage requirement, are simply

a starting point for negotiations with the Harbor Development Corp.

"The fundamental aspect of a CBA is that we're going to sacrifice, too," Shapiro-Shellaby

said of the numerous groups advocating an agreement. "Let's start having a conversation about

what makes sense."

Levy said that construction bids on the next phase of the project are due next month and

that the target date for opening Canal Side is the summer of 2012.

He also indicated that a first draft of the agency's proposed lease with Bass Pro Shops,

the development's anchor tenant, has been sent to the retailer.