Gloucester ZBA upholds inclusionary housing rule for five-lot Orchard Road development

GLOUCESTER — June 12, 2025 — Gloucester ZBA upheld the city's inclusionary housing ordinance against a developer's challenge Thursday, ruling five lots under common ownership constitute a single development subject to affordable-unit requirements. The board voted 5-0 to deny the appeal of attorney Joel Favaza of Seaside Legal Solutions, who argued on behalf of Rebuild Gloucester LLC that two Grapevine Road parcels were functionally separate from three Orchard Road lots and that the ordinance's 36-month anti-segmentation provision resets with each new permit application. Assistant General Counsel Rocco DiFilippis, appearing by Zoom, countered that the five lots — carved from one parcel by an ANR in 2022 — form a single proposed development site and that the 36-month period establishes a fixed baseline rather than a rolling window. The board modified Building Commissioner Robert Vicari's letter to eliminate his rolling-period interpretation before denying the appeal 5-0. Favaza noted the fee in lieu of an affordable unit currently runs approximately $550,000 and that the requirement to build a comparable affordable unit alongside market-rate homes selling for $1.7 million to $1.9 million would make the project "impossible." The board also granted special permits for a food trailer at the KPM Motor Inn, a two-family conversion on Andrews Court, a garage addition in Wingersheek Beach, a flood-zone home replacement on Samuel Riggs Circle, and an ADU at 162 Western Avenue — the last conditioned on the applicant submitting a certified plot plan.