By John Schmidt
The Gloucester City Planning and Zoning Board approved a resolution from the Gloucester City Historic Preservation Commission for 29 new homes to be built adjacent to the old Coast Guard Pier.
The resolution passed by the Gloucester City Planning Board ensures that the new development will be constructed with historic architecture features including a mixture of historic-era looking siding and bricks.
The developer will still have to come before the board to receive variances for construction. One issue that is still undecided is whether or not the new homes will be powered by solar energy.
Councilmen Nicholas Marchese, the Council Delegate on the board stated that the city is working to ensure the houses have solar panels.
\”Mayor and council has made it all important so that the pier would be green,\” Marchese said. Marchese added that the city is pressing the developers to ensure that this site plan is solar.
The only application which was presented in front of the board was an application for a D Variance on 224 N. Broadway. The current owner Parmod Joshi who owns the property was applying to rent the upstairs residential unit which he occupied until recently.
The board approved the application on a 6 to 1 vote. The only dissenting vote came from Board Member Ryan Murphy.
\”I didn’t see the point in changing the use from an owner occupied building to a non-owner occupied building,\” Murphy said. \”It adds one more rental into the town and I didn’t see the benefit it brought to the town in changing the use.\”
During the application Former Mayor and Board Member Bob Bevan stated that something has to be done about the rental situation in Gloucester City.
\”The city has gone from 20% rentals on the western side of the railroad tracks to 65% in the last 15 years,\” Bevan said.
Bevan went on to say the city has too many undesirable rental properties and that the governing body is looking into passing a crime 3 rental landlord law. This law would make landlords run criminal background checks on their tenets.
Even though the crime 3 rental landlord law is not in effect Joshi voluntarily agreed to run a background check on the tenet that he plans to rent the apartment to.
The board also heard an informal review from Frank Coyle the owner of the Highland Tavern on Orlando Avenue.
Coyle would like to have an outdoor deck with a seating area. Last year Jack’s Twin Bar on Broadway successfully came before the Planning and Zoning Board and got approval for an outdoor seating area along Broadway.
Coyle is looking into different possibilities for the deck but he mentioned that he would like to do something similar to Clancy’s Pub in Brooklawn with outdoor tables and umbrellas.
NOTE FROM BILL: The plans for the housing project at the former Coast Guard property was first announced by the Kilcourse Administration prior to the 2006 November council election. It was to be called Freedom Pier. In fact the architect designs and a trailer have been sitting on the site since September 2006.
Freedom Pier was the (subject topic) of a recent Email between Councilman Marchese and City Administrator/City Clerk Paul Kain. On Friday the Gloucester City News filed an OPRA request with the Municipal Clerk\’s Office to view the Email.
Also last week Marchese said a builder for the project has not been named.
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