Members of Erie City Council went to great lengths April 30 to place on the record their concerns about a plan by Scott Enterprises to build a $32 million bayfront hotel.
Members added their voices to those of more than a dozen members of the public who took turns speaking for more than an hour.
For most on City Council, it was about finding a balance between the rights of a property owner against providing public access to the waterfront.
At the conclusion of a nearly two-hour meeting, members voted 5-1 to grant a waterfront conditional use approval for the construction of an AC Marriott Hotel.
The outcome didn’t always seem apparent in advance of the vote.
Some seemed to take pains to raise questions or chide the Scotts for accepting taxpayer support while building projects that many residents couldn’t afford.
Some raised specific concerns.
These are renderings of a proposed new $32 million, 140-room Marriott AC hotel adjacent to and just east of the Hampton Inn, 130 E. Front St., near the Blasco Library.
City Council Vice President Kathy Schaaf had questions about access for residents who wanted to go fishing. She also stressed in detail the case for including exterior park benches.
Councilwoman Jasmine Flores said employees of Scott Enterprises who spoke on behalf of the project were higher-paid workers, some of whom didn’t live in the city.
“I have friends who work hourly jobs for the Scotts,” she said. “The minimum wages kings are not paying adequate wages.”
Councilman Andre Horton said he didn’t blame developers for taking advantage of tax programs, such as the Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance program, known as LERTA, which he has opposed in the past.
It was difficult to vote, he said, when Scott Enterprises and other private developers face unfair competition from the Erie Convention Center Authority, which doesn’t pay property taxes on its hotels.
He called that a failure of public policy.
“It’s really hard to reconcile these haves and have-nots,” he said. At the same time, “It’s always nice to have (construction) cranes in the air.”
Only 1 voted no
Council President Tyler Titus cast the only vote against granting the conditional approval.
“I do not think this development is for the betterment of the community,” Titus said. “I don’t think this is a very glamorous trickle-down economics.”
Titus called it a moral argument, not a legal one.
“I don’t question the legality of the ordinance that is in front of me,” Titus said. “It doesn’t mean I don’t have a strong values conflict here.”
Titus acknowledged that the hotel is being built on private property.
“What I would ask of you is to not forget residents who do not have access.”
Despite raising concerns, Flores, Horton and Schaaf all voted in favor of approval, along with Councilwoman Marilyn Pol and Councilman Maurice Troop.
Councilman Ed Brezinski did not attend the meeting.
Development funding: Fast out of the gate, Erie’s CRIZ to fund apartment building, 2 hotels, parking garage
Who benefits from development?
One after another, local residents offered their comments prior to the vote.
Millcreek businessman Peter Lyons, who opened the Marketplace Grill in 1988 inside Modern Tool Square and continued to own the property until last year, talked about the role development has played in Erie.
“I have been in downtown Erie for 38 years,” he said. “I remember when there were no convention center, no hotels, no economic growth.”
Employees of Scott Enterprises talked about the development’s contribution to the local economy.
Mark Jeannerett, newly announced as the CEO of VisitErie, spoke about the benefits of a tourism industry that produces more than $1 billion a year in local spending.
But others worried that the benefits bypass some.
Anna McCartney, of North East, talked about the public parks found across the county.
Erie’s bayfront, she said, is “The one place people don’t have access to a wonderful place to go have a picnic… What we have to keep in mind is the people who actually live here.”
Erie’s Ed Kissell spoke about holding the developer to its obligation to provide greenspace and free public access.
Another resident asked about where money wasn’t being spent.
“Where are people giong to live?” he asked. “Where is the affordable housing? Where is the housing for the poorest among us?”
The community will benefit, Scott says
Nick Scott Sr., president of Scott Enterprises, said he is sensitive to the needs of the less fortunate.
“The development is going to generate taxes,” he said. “They can use those taxes to help people.”
More: Millions in CRIZ money could be deployed in Erie. Where it could go
Scott, who stood and applauded after Horton’s comments, said he appreciated council’s support, despite any reservations.
“I think that when they examined it legally and the approvals we have had in the they past, if they blocked it we would have legal recourse in the courts.”
Scott hopes that wasn’t the only reason.
“The project has a lot of merit in terms of what it can do on the bayfront,” he said.
Scott said foundation work for the hotel could begin as soon as this summer.
Contact Jim Martin at jmartin@timesnews.com.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Marriott hotel gets OK as part of Harbor Place expansion