All nine restrictions against Acropolis, imposed by Common Council earlier this year, have been lifted. In an unusual turn of events, the owner of Acropolis, Paul Tsouflidis took his case all the way to the State Supreme Court, where it only took ten minutes for Justice Glownia to decide on the case. A public document was filed with Erie County Clerks Office yesterday (seen here).
While the outcome allows Acropolis to move in a number of directions, I understand that a decision has been made to not build a bar on the second floor, mainly since the remodeling work has been completed and the restaurant is fully operational. At the same time, Acropolis now has the ability to play music on the second floor, which was one of the restrictions that frustrated Tsouflidis from the start. Acropolis will also have the right to have live music on weekends, just as The Blue Monk and Cecelia's (neighbors) do.
I spoke to Tsouflidis after Common Council originally imposed the nine restrictions, but he never alluded that he would be taking the case to State Supreme Court. At the time, he did tell me that he was shocked and aggravated at the restrictions that had been imposed, and felt that a compromise could easily have been reached. Instead he apparently decided to fight the restrictions in order to (as he put it at the time) defend the rights of the small business owner. Tsouflidis told me that he felt that the voice of small business, whether it be restrictions on food trucks, 18+ age restrictions, etc, was non-existant and that local government did not have the right to create unjust laws at the behest of a handful of disgruntled people. Tsouflidis called the restrictions imposed upon his restaurant "An attack on all small businesses", and hoped that an eventual outcome (such as the one we see today) would serve as a lesson that there are ways to empower the Buffalo small business community, and one of them is to lead by example.
The democratic system in process where blind justice heard both sides and a judgement rendered. Congrats to Acropolis - a viable tax-paying business!