June 12--Erie Insurance Group is one step closer to building the region's largest parking garage.

The planned 1,000-space parking garage is to be built on more than 2 acres between East Seventh and East Eighth streets and French and Holland streets, fronting East Eighth Street. Erie Insurance owns a 192-space surface lot there now.

The Zoning Hearing Board today approved a variance allowing Erie Insurance Group to set the planned 1,000-space parking garage back 20.8 feet from the East Eighth Street property line. The property is in a zoning district that mandates a zero setback.

Erie Insurance sought the variance because the setback allows it to build the ramp on more level land, and to build a driveway into the structure that would accommodate cars waiting to drive into the ramp. The driveway brings those cars off the street, said Mike Glass, a representative of the company.

Construction on the 390,000-square foot, six-level ramp is expected to start Aug. 1, and be done by late fall 2013, Glass said.

The garage will expand Erie Insurance's current number of parking spaces from 2,105 to 3,015.

___

(c)2012 the Erie Times-News (Erie, Pa.)

Visit the Erie Times-News (Erie, Pa.) at www.GoErie.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services