He said he intends to put 60 to 100 climate-controlled self storage units on the first floor of the two-level building, and he said he plans to remove the building’s historical architectural items and display them in the building. His purchase of Irving will help stop the building from further decline, Fiore said.”
With variance approved for prospective buyer, Erie School Board expected to vote soon on sale of 126-year-old building that closed in 2012 due to declining enrollment. After housing school children for more than a century, the Erie School District’s Irving School in Erie is closer to getting a new life storing other people’s stuff.
The Erie Zoning Hearing Board has approved a variance that allows a self storage facility to operate at Irving, 2310 Plum St., just east of Washington Park.
The board’s unanimous vote on Tuesday clears the way for the Erie School Board to approve the sale of the 60,600-square-foot building to Erie-based Secured Storage. The company’s owner, Dan Fiore, had to get a variance as a condition for the school district to entertain a sale.
Once the School Board approves the sale, a judge in Erie County Common Pleas Court will have to sign off on the deal because the school district is selling a building to a for-profit entity. The district and Fiore would close on the sale following court approval.
The Erie School District has not disclosed the sale price during the negotiations. The price will become public when the School Board votes on the deal, possibly as early as June.
How long has the school district been trying to sell Irving?
The school district has been trying to sell Irving, an elementary school, since the district closed it in 2012 due to declining enrollment. Irving opened in 1897 and is named after American author Washington Irving, who wrote “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”
Irving School is the last of the unused buildings the 10,000-student district has on the market. It has been selling old buildings to save money on maintenance and to avoid liability.
A prospective $400,000 sale of Irving and adjacent land to an out-of-town developer fell through in April 2022 after the developer could not get financing. The developer, Woda Cooper, of Columbus, Ohio, wanted to raze Irving and replace it with low-income housing for seniors.
Developer backs out of deal to buy Erie’s Irving School for low-income senior housing. Irving and its approximately 2.3 acres are listed for sale for $449,000 through estate agent Randy Rydzewski, with Howard Hanna Commercial Real Estate. The school district also owns 1.77 acres, including a softball field, next to the school.
Secured Storage is not seeking to buy the adjacent parcel. But Fiore, the company’s owner, told the Zoning Hearing Board he would work with neighbors and the school district to make sure that parcel is preserved as green space.
Why did the prospective owner of Irving need a variance?
Irving sits in a neighborhood zoned R-2, for medium-density residential. The city’s zoning ordinance prohibits personal self storage facilities in an R-2 district. The Erie School Board gave Fiore permission to ask for the variance as prospective buyer of Irving.
Secured Storage operates two other facilities. They are at 531 E. 25th St., at Ash Street, in a 45,812-square-foot building that was once Stover’s Ceramic Supply; and at 2001-09 Wallace St., in the 58,670-square-foot former Pinnacle Services building, another brick structure. Secured Storage rents self storage units and stores boats and cars, trucks, motorcycles and other vehicles.
Fiore told the five members of the Zoning Hearing Board he has been careful to work with neighbors near his other facilities, and said he plans the same cooperation for the Irving project.
He said he intends to put 60 to 100 climate-controlled self storage units on the first floor of the two-level building, and he said he plans to remove the building’s historical architectural items and display them in the building. His purchase of Irving will help stop the building from further decline, Fiore said.
Erie School Board OKs deal for neighborhood nonprofit to buy, revamp former Burton School. “I love these old buildings,” Fiore told the board. “I want to maintain them as best we can.” He said in an interview that, once the sale is complete, he plans to open Irving as a self storage facility in 2024.
Did the zoning board place any conditions on the Irving property?
The Zoning Hearing Board approved the variance with three conditions meant to help preserve the residential character of the neighborhood.
The board is requiring Fiore to:
- Erect fencing around the Irving parking lot. The type of fencing is to fit the character of the building
- Provide secure access to the building through a key-fob system for customers or other security systems
- Limit the hours of operation from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily
Fiore said he had no problem with the conditions and had planned to make similar changes even if the board had not required them. “I am very happy with them,” Fiore said after the hearing.
No one spoke against the variance at the meeting. One person spoke in support. Heather Caspar, executive director of the Sisters of St. Joseph Neighborhood Network, told the board she had spoken to some of the neighbors near Irving and that their main concern was the preservation of green space.
Caspar said she was glad Fiore also wants to keep green space near Irving. She also said Fiore has readily accommodated neighbors near his other self storage facilities. “He is a good neighbor,” Caspar said.
