Gloucester ZBA Approves Eight Applications, Defers 62-Unit Affordable Housing Case

Zoning Board · Meeting of July 30, 2026

Gloucester Zoning Board approves eight applications and defers a 62-unit affordable housing case over procedural uncertainty. The Board of Appeals, chaired by Joseph Parisi, voted unanimously to continue the Chapter 40B comprehensive permit application of 272 Washington Street LLC — the entity behind a 62-unit Harbor Light Homes development at 272 Washington Street — to the August 13 meeting, with Parisi citing unresolved questions about whether the board has statutory authority to pause the 40B public-hearing clock while the applicant and city explore a 40R overlay-zone alternative. In the meeting's most contested item, the board voted 5-1 to uphold the building commissioner's refusal to pursue zoning enforcement in a drainage dispute at 12 Andrews Court, with city Assistant General Counsel Rocco DeFilippis advising that most of the relief sought fell outside the board's zoning jurisdiction.

The board unanimously approved a special permit for a 3-foot building-height exception at 14-16 Links Road to accommodate elevator shafts, and granted a special permit and four dimensional variances retroactively legalizing a three-family dwelling at 354 Essex Avenue, with attorney Joel Favaza of Seaside Legal Solutions arguing the property "has been jammed in that northern corner for the last 100 years."

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Source: the Zoning Board meeting of July 30, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.