Erie City Council signed off on a new bayfront zip line. Will it ever be built?

The Soaring Eagle zip line has received permission to fly from Erie City Council, but the future of the proposed bayfront attraction is now up in the air.

City Council, at its regular meeting on Wednesday night, approved Scott Enterprises’ request for a waterfront conditional use designation for the project by a narrow 4-3 vote.

As proposed, the zip line would be located on Erie-based Scott Enterprises’ Harbor Place property, just east of lower State Street.  It would cross over East Front Street and offer riders elevated views of Presque Isle Bay as they descend from a 130-foot-high tower near the Bayfront Parkway.

Bayfront attractions:New zip line, miniature golf course planned for Erie's bayfront

Scott Enterprises had hoped to build a zip line this summer. However, the project is now delayed until at least 2023, if it happens at all, said Nick Scott Sr., Scott Enterprises’ president.

Scott largely blamed City Council delays in approving the zip line.

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Zip line:Project likely on hold; Scott Enterprises awaits vote

The project is one of two major entertainment amenities Scott Enterprises plans to bring to Harbor Place, which is a $150 million, multi-year development.

Council on April 6 approved a waterfront conditional use designation for a new miniature golf course on the northern end of the Harbor Place property, which also includes the Hampton Inn & Suites at 130 E. Front St.

On March 15, Scott Enterprises presented a plan to the city's Design Review Committee and Planning Commission for the development of the zip line and a miniature golf course.

While both groups recommended the plans, City Council did not approve the zip line project until more than two months later.

Council members, including Council President Liz Allen, said they need more time to consider the zip line, including questions about whether Scott Enterprises is required to provide additional public spaces on the waterfront property.

City Council questions:Vote delayed on bayfront zipline

“We can’t make that commitment to do it now. We don’t have enough time to have it ready for this summer,” Scott said Wednesday night after City Council’s vote.

“The way the economy is, with inflation and all those things, we’re not sure what will happen,” Scott continued. “We still have the option to do it, and we may do it next year. We will still develop down there, but if we don’t do the zip line, we’ll do something else.”

Council members Mel Witherspoon, Michael Keys, Chuck Nelson and Maurice Troop voted in favor of the waterfront conditional use designation for the zip line.

Allen and two of her City Council colleagues, Jasmine Flores and Ed Brzezinski, voted against it.

“I’ve been accused of holding up a business that wanted to move forward,” Allen said in explaining her vote.

She added that she thought it was important to have a discussion about public parks/green space in relation to the project, in large part because Scott Enterprises’ successful 2016 application for $5 million in state grant funds for Harbor Place stated that the development “will not only include public walkways at the water's edge as required by city zoning rules, but also a maze of linear parks, 7 pocket parks and a floating stage for the public to enjoy."

Further, a height variance granted to Harbor Place in 2014 for the construction of the Hampton Inn & Suites requires an additional square foot of open public space for each additional square foot of space of building created by that variance.

Scott Enterprises has yet to create that new public space.

“I believe that words matter,” Allen said.

Nelson, however, said the zip line would bring a new family-friendly amenity to the waterfront.

“I’m really excited about this,” Nelson said. “It’s very enjoyable usage.”

Scott on Wednesday night said his company acknowledges an agreement to create at least 25,000 square feet of open space on the 4.3-acre Harbor Place property.

However, he said Allen and other members of City Council wanted the company to pinpoint exactly where that space would be located on the Harbor Place property, something that currently cannot be done.

“You can’t make that commitment while the plan is still evolving,” Scott said. “I feel this delay has caused the citizens to miss out. It’s unfortunate.”

Under city zoning rules, the Design Review Committee and Planning Commission must review projects in the city’s Waterfront Commercial District and make recommendations to Erie City Council, which hosts public hearings on the projects.

Both projects required council's approval before they could move forward.

New attraction:Bayfront miniature golf course approved by Erie City Council

Scott Enterprises was required to obtain an aerial easement from the city for the zip line because it would travel over Front Street. Easements allow businesses to encroach upon a portion of the public sidewalk or the public right-of-way.

Additionally, a height variance was obtained because the zip line tower would be roughly 130 feet high. Zoning rules along the bayfront limit the height of commercial structures or hotels to 50 feet, and multifamily residential units to 100 feet.

Both the easement and height variance were approved by the Erie Zoning Hearing Board on April 12.

City Council’s Wednesday vote also stipulates that if Scott Enterprises builds the zip line, a new section of sidewalk must be constructed at Harbor Place on the south side of East Front Street.

Contact Kevin Flowers at kflowers@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ETNflowers.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie's bayfront zip line approved, but it won't happen anytime soon