Three Erie County companies have made their pitch to Erie City Council for a new 75,000-square-foot light manufacturing facility at the former International Paper property on East Lake Road.
City Council heard details of the project during an Aug. 19 public hearing.
Project details
An entity called Nine Ships Company is seeking waterfront conditional use zoning approval for the project at 1318 East Lake Road, which is located in a waterfront commercial district. An overall cost for the project was not available.
Previous coverage: Erie firm has expansion plan that will create 80 new jobs at IP site
The zoning designation applies to development projects in various commercial/residential zoning districts along the city’s waterfront, to make sure they align with planning, environmental and public access standards previously set by the city.
Zoning explained: What waterfront conditional use status means in Erie, Pa.
Three local companies are part of Nine Ships: Modular Engineering, 1802 Cranberry St., which manufactures various types of modular structures; M-E Construction, which shares the same Cranberry Street address; and Corporate Glass, 5604 West Ridge Road, a commercial/residential glass installation company.
The three combined companies are all seeking additional space to operate and would lease their new factory/headquarters from the Erie County Redevelopment Authority, which owns the property.
Nine Ships expects that the project could mean an additional 80 employees at the three companies.
Plans for the project were presented to City Council by two representatives of Porter Consulting Engineers, P.C., Jake Yatsko, a project engineer; and Ashley Porter, the company’s senior engineer/project manager.
The manufacturing facility would be located on 23 acres at the western edge of the former International Paper site. New trees and landscaping would provide an additional buffer between the facility and residential neighborhoods.
Jeff Johnson, a Hess Avenue resident, told City Council he had questions about increased traffic on East Lake Road. “I don’t know if any traffic studies are involved or anything like that,” Johnson said.
Erie resident Freda Tepfer, who frequently attends City Council meetings, said she would “like to see some effort to minimize the amount of clearing” of trees/shrubbery in the neighborhood because there is “ample wildlife” in the area.
What’s next
City Council must approve the waterfront conditional use designation before the project can move forward. That could happen as soon as council’s next regular meeting on Sept. 2.
The city’s Planning Commission and Design Review Committee have both recommended that council approve the Nine Ships project, said Cooper Moore, an assistant planner with the city of Erie.
Contact Kevin Flowers at kflowers@timesnews.com. Follow him on X at @ETNflowers.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie firm’s manufacturing plan at IP site pitched to City Council