Gloucester Planning Board Rejects Zoning Amendment Conflicting With State Law

GLOUCESTER -- May 1, 2025, Gloucester Planning Board rejects proposed zoning change as illegal under state law. The board voted unanimously Thursday to recommend against adopting a proposed amendment to Section 3 of the Gloucester Zoning Ordinance that would have exempted non-conforming structures from dimensional requirements when a change of use involved no exterior alterations. City Solicitor Suzanne Egan told the board the proposal "is inconsistent with Chapter 40A, Section 6" and advised against adoption, recommending instead that the city identify the specific problem it wants to solve and draft a narrower ordinance. The board, acting under Vice Chair Jane Remsen as acting chair, also continued a demolition delay ordinance hearing to May 15 and pushed the long-running Chisholm Court Extension subdivision hearing at 20 Main Street to June 26, with attorney Sean McCormick warning that outcome depends on a May 20 superior court motion-to-dismiss hearing on an abutters' lawsuit. Members spent the back half of the meeting debating housing strategy following the failed multi-family overlay district referendum, identifying two-family use uniformity and citywide three-family by-right expansion as near-term zoning targets and tasking the board's housing subcommittee with drafting a short action plan tied to the rollout of the city's forthcoming comprehensive plan.