Gloucester ZBA Hears 40B Proposal for 29 Affordable Senior Units on Main Street

GLOUCESTER — July 31, 2025 — Gloucester's Zoning Board of Appeals received a full Chapter 40B comprehensive permit presentation Thursday for a proposed 29-unit affordable senior housing building at 256 Main Street and voted to continue the matter to August 28 while city departments review the plans. Andrew Leonard, Director of Real Estate Development at Harborlite Homes, told the board all 29 one-bedroom units would be restricted to residents age 62 and older, with 16 units priced at 30 percent of area median income — a $34,750 income limit for a single person — and 13 units at 60 percent AMI. The four-story building, designed by SV Design of Beverly, is proposed for a Housing Authority-owned surface parking lot the authority has held since 1980 and is required to use for affordable housing. The board also approved, in separate unanimous votes, accessibility-addition variances for a Haskell Street homeowner, pool variances for a Leonard Street property, a driveway-access variance for a rear parcel at 22 Rear Eastern Point Road with conditions including a two-family use restriction, and a full slate of variances and special permits to convert a Church Street two-family to a three-family — and continued a neighbor dispute over alleged zoning violations at 12 Wonson Street to August 28 after city legal counsel raised jurisdictional objections, with legal briefs due August 21.