Gloucester ZBA Denies Marina Appeal, Continues Inclusionary Housing Dispute to June

GLOUCESTER -- May 8, 2025, Gloucester ZBA continues inclusionary housing fight and denies marina pier appeal at May 8 session. The board continued to June 12 a petition by Rebuild Gloucester LLC, represented by attorney Joel Favaza of Seaside Legal Solutions, challenging a building inspector determination that five lots on Orchard Road and Grapevine Road constitute a single project under the city's inclusionary housing ordinance, a finding that could require the developer to sell a future unit at roughly $290,000 in a market where construction costs run at least twice that figure. City Solicitor Suzanne Egan will provide a legal opinion on segmentation before that hearing; Favaza argued the city "cannot have it both ways" after forcing his client to spend $500,000 on a separate water line by previously treating the parcels as unrelated. The board voted 5-0 to deny an appeal by neighbors Charles Crowley and Claire Sanford of 19 Biscay Head Point, upholding a building permit issued to Heronsway Marina for an open pier structure after Egan cited a 2023 zoning certificate issued in connection with a Chapter 91 license. The board also granted special permits and variances unanimously to four other petitioners, including a variance allowing two principal dwellings to remain on one lot at 21 High Popples Road, where a cottage illegally converted to a separate dwelling unit around 1980 has been taxed as a second unit throughout owner Brian Pollard's tenure.