Committee tables multiple zoning items, approves 128 Genesee sidewalk café and 3390 Main Street tobacco permit

At a Sept. 23, 2025 Buffalo City Council committee meeting, members voted on a series of zoning and business-license items, tabling several pending matters and approving a sidewalk café permit and a special-use permit for a tobacco, hookah and vape establishment at 3390 Main Street.

The committee moved to table agenda items 1 through 8 pending a public hearing set for Oct. 7, 2025. The committee also approved a sidewalk café permit for 128 Genesee and considered several other special-use applications, including a tobacco/hookah/vape shop at 3390 Main Street where the applicant described the business and hours of operation.

Why it matters: The decisions and motions affect neighborhood business operations in the University District and other zoning districts, including whether new or re-established tobacco and tavern uses may operate where they seek permits. The approvals and tablings determine which items will get fuller public hearings or additional review.

The committee’s actions

Item 12 (3390 Main Street) drew direct public testimony. Applicant Akram Alabadi identified himself and was joined at the microphone by Adel Munozar, president of the Arab American Business Association. Alabadi said the location previously operated as a smoke shop and that the proposed use would be a tobacco, hookah and vape business; he told the committee, "It was, originally a, smoke shop. It's gonna…