Gloucester ZBA Denies Canonicus Road Variances, Calls Hardship Self-Created

GLOUCESTER -- August 28, 2025, Gloucester Zoning Board denies Canonicus Road home variances, advances 29-unit senior housing review. The board voted 3-2 on August 28 to reject front- and rear-yard setback variances for a proposed single-family home at 4 Canonicus Road, with Chair Joseph Parisi, member Michael Nyman, and member Ronald Wilson concluding the hardship was self-created when the lot's owners assembled the parcel through a land swap that left a building envelope too narrow for a standard house. Attorney Deborah Ellison argued the lot's depth was a physical constraint the owner could not cure and that four of five abutters supported the project, but Parisi drew on a prior Sargent Street denial: "The zoning ordinance clearly states that a hardship that is self-created cannot be granted." Separately, the board voted unanimously to find the Harborlight Homes Chapter 40B application for 29 affordable senior units at 256 Main Street complete as of August 22 and to retain Weston and Samson as third-party engineering consultant, with abutters at 260 Main Street raising concerns about required blasting and a building height variance from 35 to 42 feet; the hearing continues September 25.