Gloucester Planning Board Initiates Flood Zone Ordinance Update Ahead of July Deadline

GLOUCESTER -- April 17, 2025, Gloucester Planning Board advances flood zone ordinance update and hears final-stretch comprehensive plan report. The board voted 7-0 Thursday to initiate an amendment to Section 5.5 of the Gloucester Zoning Ordinance, the Floodplain Overlay District, bringing it into compliance with new FEMA flood insurance rate maps that take effect July 8, 2025; a public hearing is set for May 15. Senior Planner Eric Henderly said the map changes are modest, affecting primarily inland panels with "wiggles along the margins," and that the ordinance revisions also clarify that floodplain area calculations exclude land submerged in water bodies, a codification of how the building commissioner has already been applying the standard. Separately, consulting firm J.M. Goldson presented Phase 4 results of the city's multi-year comprehensive plan update, reporting nearly 4,000 community participation points against a goal of 2,900 and nearly 800 responses to a goal prioritization survey, with education, environmental quality, and health equity topping community rankings. The board reached consensus to include a verbal public comment period at its May meeting before the plan moves to City Council for a June adoption vote. Two public hearings, a subdivision at 20 Main Street and a proposed demolition delay ordinance, were continued to May 1.