Erie council approves waterfront conditional use for Scott Enterprises hotel; council president dissents

Erie City Council on April 30 approved a waterfront conditional‑use resolution permitting Scott Enterprises to build an eight‑story, 139‑room hotel at East Front Street as part of the Harbour Place Phase 2 project, after the council added a set of conditions intended to protect public access and open space.

The resolution requires the developer to incorporate a 2014 height‑variance trade‑off (dedicating additional open space for extra height), to limit impervious surfaces in qualifying open space to 40 percent, to encourage regionally native planting where reasonable, and to adopt measures intended to reduce harm to birds and migratory species. It also requires a minimum bench ratio of one public bench per 40 linear feet of waterfront‑facing facade (rounded up, but not exceeding eight benches per acre), standards for bench construction and ADA adjacency, and owner responsibility for maintenance and reasonable repairs. Donor plaques are permitted on benches up to 6 inches by 12 inches; permanent fee‑based or private reservation areas will not count as qualifying open space, and vehicular‑use areas are excluded except for emergency‑vehicle access.

The solicitor, Jason Cech, described the change to condition 5 — language that says the site must be designed to be "welcoming, publicly accessible and harmonious in character" and must "avoid physical barriers, design features, or site elements that would reasonably discourage public entry" — as a supplement to existing zoning that is intended to prevent design that appears to block public access while still allowing flexibility to meet code.

Architectural representatives and the project team stressed that the conditions reflect compromise language to balance public usability and long‑term durability of plantings on an exposed Bayfront site. "There's certainly a place for native [plants]," said Bridal Weber of Weber Murphy Fox, the project's architect and landscape consultant, "we certainly wanna use native every place we can, but...we also need to have the flexibility to put in plants that are gonna last longer and aren't gonna need replacing." Weber also provided the council with proposed open‑space figures for phase 2, saying the plan calls for tens of thousands of square feet of parks, plazas, trails and naturalized areas.

Developer Nick Scott argued the project will deliver economic benefits, citing prior investments and tax receipts from earlier Bayfront work. "We paid $5,000,000 in taxes," Scott said during public comment as he described the developer's track record and the phased master plan.

Opponents and several council members pressed for stronger guarantees on wages, public‑facing park delivery and long‑term local benefits. Council President Titus said he felt a "value‑system dissonance" about the project: "I do not think that this development is... for the betterment of the community," Titus said, explaining his decision to oppose the resolution on ethical grounds despite acknowledging legal limits on council's authority.

After discussion, council members voted to adopt the resolution; President Titus cast the lone recorded no vote and the chair declared the measure approved. (Council member Brzezinski was recorded as absent at roll call.)

The approved conditions will be attached to any required permits and are intended to be enforced through the city's waterfront and zoning processes; the project team and city staff will handle technical implementation and any follow‑up reporting required by city code.

Votes at a glance: resolution approved; recorded vote showed multiple affirmative votes and one recorded no (President Titus).