Gloucester ZBA Approves All Five Applications at June 25 Hearing

GLOUCESTER — June 25, 2026 — Gloucester's Zoning Board of Appeals cleared all five applications on its June 25 docket, including a pool built without a permit. Chair Joe Parisi and members Lauren Norton, Ron Wilson, Axel Ruiz, and Michael Nyman voted 5-0 on each item after a full evening of hearings. The most contested deliberation involved 15 Briarwood Court Realty Trust, whose trustees sought removal of a 1970 condition barring further subdivision of land at 18 Briarwood Court so their son could receive a buildable lot; Parisi pressed the housing angle, noting that North Gloucester's new sewer service made the half-century-old restriction an obstacle to density, but the board ultimately removed only the anti-subdivision clause while leaving single-family restrictions in place. The board also approved variances for a partially built pool at 4 Stewart Avenue after owner Vincent DeCessory admitted a contractor had shot the structure with spray shotcrete while he was away — "I apologize for that, that is my fault" — and granted height special permits at both 51 Wingaersheek Road and 16 Dune Lane, and a safety egress staircase at 1 Western Avenue.