Gloucester Planning Board Advances Comprehensive Plan Strategies, Sets February Continuation

GLOUCESTER -- January 28, 2025, Gloucester Planning Board works through comprehensive plan draft strategies at special January session. The board convened January 28 for a single-item special meeting to review draft core theme strategies developed by lead consultant Laura Smead of JM Goldson, with all five present members, Chair Rick Noonan, Vice Chair Jane Ramson, and members Doug Cook, Sean Henry, and David Rosen, participating; member Beverly Bookin was absent. No formal votes were taken beyond adjournment, but the board reached working consensus on dozens of strategy items covering the blue economy, housing stability, economic development, and transportation, directing consultants to soften directive language document-wide, replacing "activate" and "form" with "evaluate" and "explore." Key decisions included moving artist-studio strategies out of the housing section and into economic development, reframing CATA coordination language to remove any implication that the city would fund transit subsidies, and eliminating a proposed strategy on alternative transportation permitting after transportation consultant Juliet Walker of Kittleson said she had never encountered permitting as a practical barrier. Discussion continues February 6, with a full plan synthesis targeted for the March 20 Planning Board meeting.