Gloucester Planning Board unanimously backs 29-unit senior affordable housing project downtown

GLOUCESTER -- August 7, 2025, Gloucester Planning Board endorses 29-unit downtown senior affordable housing project and moves to eliminate a seldom-used zoning district. The board voted 5-0 Thursday to recommend the Zoning Board of Appeals approve a Chapter 40B comprehensive permit filed by Harbor Light Community Partners for a four-story, 29-unit senior affordable housing building at 256 Main Street, a parcel owned by the Gloucester Housing Authority since 1980 and currently used as a parking lot. All units would be one-bedroom apartments for residents 62 and older: a minimum of 16 units at 30 percent of area median income, roughly $35,000 annually, supported by Section 8 and state rental vouchers, with the remaining 13 units at 60 percent AMI, or about $70,000 for a single person. Andrew Leonard, Director of Real Estate Development for Harbor Light, cited a recent 23-unit senior project in Rockport that drew nearly 500 applications as evidence of regional demand. Member David Rosen recused himself from the vote. In a separate unanimous vote, the board recommended the City Council rescind Section 5.16 of the Gloucester Zoning Ordinance, the Village Development Overlay District, after roughly 20 years on the books with only one application ever filed.