Erie Planning Commission designates two corner properties as blighted to clear path for acquisition

The Erie Planning Commission voted May 20 to designate two properties near the corner of East Tenth Street and Ash Street as blighted, a designation city staff said is needed to pursue condemnation and eventual city or authority ownership.

The designation applies to a parcel the speaker said the Erie Authority owns at 608 East Tenth Street and a parcel the land bank owns at 915 Ash Street. Planning Department staff told commissioners the two parcels would help assemble four adjacent parcels to serve as a starting point for the East Bayfront Greenway Trail and to connect with the project’s Phase 1 work on East Sixth Street.

City planning staff described a long history of interventions at the Ash Street property, including an emergency demolition carried out after a court order last year. Staff said they had attempted to contact the property owner for nearly two years with no sustained communication; occasional workers seen at the site have said they were working for someone else and could not identify the owner. Staff said the planning commission’s blight designation is one of roughly four steps required before a declaration of taking and condemnation could occur.

Commissioners asked whether the city had offered permits or other paths to bring the East Tenth property back into use; staff responded they had tried to engage the owner but received no response and that posting the property as part of the condemnation process might spur contact. A motion to designate the properties received a second and passed on a voice vote.

Because the transcript contains inconsistent address references (the presentation initially cited 608 East Tenth and 915 Ash but later references 606 and 917 in places), staff clarified the property ownership and addresses will be verified in the formal public-notice and condemnation paperwork before the city proceeds.