Erie advisory board tells council to reject Saint Scholastica’s pre-application for Village at Coal Creek

The Open Space and Trails Advisory Board recommended that the Town of Erie’s council reject a pre-application from Saint Scholastica for the Village at Coal Creek, after residents and board members raised traffic, safety, environmental and process concerns.

Residents from the Northridge neighborhood urged the board to preserve the town-owned Page property for open space and affordable housing. “I oppose it,” said Mike Hatternick, a Northridge resident, citing worries about increased traffic, emergency access delays and potential floodplain issues. Megan Hughes, another Northridge resident, said she and neighbors were told the land was designated for open space and affordable housing and that she only learned about the proposal through social media. “A development of this size … is going to absolutely destroy that property,” Hughes said.

John Mortlaro, the council member liaison, told the board that the proposal remains at pre-application stage and that staff met with the applicant in January. “There’s no decision that’s been made,” Mortlaro said, adding that Catholic Charities is involved with the affordable-housing component discussed in the concept documents.

Board members focused on whether the proposed plan would erode the parcel’s open-space values. The parcel shown in the pre-application is roughly 4.5 acres, below the 10-acre minimum the board noted as a relevant threshold in the town’s open-space considerations. The chair (functional label) highlighted that parts of the parcel abut the Coal Creek corridor and a detention pond and warned of uncertain impacts if large building foundations are constructed near those features.

Several board members reiterated language from prior OSTAB correspondence and voiced firm opposition. “I think it’s more important that in the strongest possible terms, we reject this pre-application,” said one board member. The board agreed unanimously to prepare a substantive letter for town council explaining how the pre-application would “eliminate or seriously deteriorate” the property’s open-space values and to emphasize traffic, viewshed and ecological concerns.

Speakers at the public comment period also raised land-use and zoning objections. Resident Michael Katankalich pointed out that the parcel is zoned agricultural holding and designated residential medium in the comprehensive plan, and said institutional uses of this scale are not contemplated without rezoning or a planned-unit-development amendment. Katankalich urged “early policy alignment and meaningful community engagement.”

The advisory board’s position is advisory only; staff clarified the pre-application is not a formal land-use filing. If the applicant proceeds, the board’s letter will be part of the record the council considers if and when a formal rezoning or site-plan application is submitted.

The board asked volunteers to draft the first version of the letter and said it would circulate the draft to members for comment before forwarding it to town council. The board also discussed being proactive at future meetings by mapping the parcel’s primary open-space values and identifying parts of the property that merit protection.

Next procedural steps: the applicant has up to six months to file a formal application, which would require owner consent and, if necessary, a rezoning. The board’s recommendation will go to town council when the matter arrives as a formal application or rezoning request.