Gloucester Council Votes 8-1 to Adopt Nine-Month Historic Demolition Delay Ordinance

GLOUCESTER — May 26, 2026 — Gloucester City Council adopts demolition delay ordinance, votes 8-1 to protect historic buildings. The council Monday approved a new Article 6 to the city's building ordinance requiring the Gloucester Historical Commission to review demolition permit applications for any of the roughly 1,100 buildings in the city identified in the state's MACRIS database as constructed in or before 1899, with the City Council empowered to impose a nine-month delay on structures it designates as preferably preserved — down from the 12 months in the original draft after an amendment by Council President Tony Gross, seconded by Councilor at Large Sean Nolan, passed 9-0. Councilor at Large Patty Ann Page cast the lone dissenting vote on final passage, arguing that deed restrictions and voluntary preservation agreements are more effective than a citywide ordinance: "I prefer to have a something like historic preservation or a deed restriction versus the sweeping ordinance." Testimony in favor repeatedly invoked the demolition of Black Bess, the Eastern Point home of the late maritime historian Joe Garland, which received a permit days before the hearing. The council also voted 9-0 to award $300,000 from the Affordable Housing Trust to Habitat for Humanity for 47 Washington Street and unanimously adopted a proclamation designating Gloucester as a Purple Heart community.