Zoning compliance conflicts continue between the Town of Cambria and the Forsyth Warren Tavern history museum. At a town board meeting earlier this month, nearly 25 museum supporters filled the room to hear Charlotte Patterson, museum trustee, assert that Cambria officials refuse to clarify specific zoning requirements.
In video coverage of the July meeting, Patterson said that the building department issued the museum an inspection order that was factually incorrect.
Patterson said when asking for clarification, ”We are met with vague, shifting, and contradictory demands.” She then asked the board why the town building department refused to meet with her after eight emails that asked two questions. Patterson did not clarify the questions asked or the factual inaccuracies.
Addressing the board, Patterson asked, “Is the reason for the silence because we have taken the board to court in the past? Is the board’s current position that any resident who exercises their legal rights will then be excluded from future communication?”
The Forsyth Warren Tavern is a 219-year-old former inn that was active for decades as the Niagara frontier was settled. The building has been a restoration project for more than eight years, to recreate the tavern environment and farmstead as a living history museum that offers events, classes, and exhibits.
In late 2024, Tyler Booth, executive director for the Forsyth-Warren Tavern, appealed several required property adaptations that Cambria required to the New York State Department of State Buffalo Board of Review and to the Niagara County Supreme Court. The Department of State ruled that his property was safe for occupancy, and also found that Cambria’s requirement for concrete or black-top to meet disability standards could be met with brick paving.
Regarding the absence of responses, town Supervisor Jon T. MacSwan said, “This goes back to animosity that was carried through from years and years of back and forth. And several times, I thought it was worked out.”
Patterson responded that she felt no animosity and had also thought there had been mutual cooperation in the past.
In an interview, Johnathan Newman, president of the board of trustees for Forsyth-Warren Tavern, said, “The town has doubled down on their belief. They keep citing us for violations.”
In a response interrupted several times by Patterson, Abe Platt, town attorney, said the lack of communication was due to “the content of settlement discussions was included in a lawsuit against the town. … It’s not something that is ethical.”
Platt said this created a conflict of interest, requiring the town to obtain outside counsel to defend itself in the past lawsuit.