Gloucester ZBA Approves Two Residential Variances, Continues Industrial Site Case to April

GLOUCESTER -- March 27, 2025, Gloucester ZBA approves two residential variances and delays industrial site hearing to April 24. The board unanimously granted a side yard setback variance to Kara and Scott Rice to build a new two-family home at 29 Cliff Road, where a tapering lot line places one porch corner at 8 feet 8.5 inches from the property line against a 10-foot requirement, and separately approved a special permit and front yard variance for Jerome and Jacqueline Shimataro to convert their home at 7 Periwinkle Lane to a two-family and add a 20-by-27-foot garage. The board continued the contested Energy North Inc. application for a lot frontage variance at 40 Sargent Street, where the parcel has only 20 feet of public frontage against a 65-foot requirement, telling the applicant's attorney to consult the city's Planning Director and provide at minimum a range of potential uses before returning April 24, because, as Chair Joseph Parisi put it, reading from legal guidance the board had received, "since the applicant won't tell the board what the proposed use is, your hands are tied."