Gloucester planners take up Sargent Street subdivision Thursday as council panels weigh police grants

Gloucester's Planning Board holds a public hearing Thursday on a new subdivision plan for land off Sargent Street, one of several city meetings this week that touch housing rules, grants and wetlands. In Essex, selectmen sit down with the public works and finance boards next Wednesday.

Gloucester

Planning Board, Thursday, Oct. 1, 5 p.m.

The board will hear an application from Energy North Inc. for a definitive subdivision plan called "Haffner's Way." The plan covers land at 40 Sargent St., 46 Millett St., 10 and 18 Gale Road and 131R Gloucester Ave., according to the agenda.

Members will also discuss proposed changes to the dimensional rules for multifamily buildings, and to the city's watershed protection overlay district.

The meeting is in the Kyrouz Auditorium at City Hall, 9 Dale Ave., and on Zoom. The board's next regular meeting is Oct. 15.

Earlier Thursday, at 3:30 p.m., a Planning Board subcommittee continues work on a draft open space residential development ordinance and on whether to protect trees through an ordinance or a regulation.

City Council committees

• Ordinances and Administration, Monday, Oct. 5, 6 p.m. The committee takes up a proposal by Councilor Tony Gross to drop the rule that new or changed city fees be published in a local newspaper.
• Planning and Development, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 6 p.m. Councilors review a special permit request for a four to six unit apartment building at Day Court, continued from July. They will also hear a National Grid request to lay about 2 feet of underground conduit on Wheeler Street. A proposal by Councilor Scott Memhard to double the minimum lot area per home in the coastal residential RC-40 district, from 20,000 to 40,000 square feet, has been pushed to Oct. 21.
• Budget and Finance, Thursday, Oct. 8, 5:30 p.m. The interim police chief is asking councilors to accept two grants: a $95,636.25 state 911 training grant and a $102,983 support and incentive grant. The committee will also consider $12,000 for part of the city's wayfinding signs project and about $10,300 to pay back the Police Department for officers at every polling place during the Sept. 1 primary. A discussion of tax classification has been pushed to Oct. 22.

All three committees meet in the first floor conference room at City Hall, with a Zoom option.

Conservation Commission, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 5:30 p.m.

The commission has a long agenda at the Rose Baker Center, 6 Manuel F. Lewis St. New filings include a roadway, stormwater system and utilities near wetlands at 10 Gale Road and 40 Sargent St., two of the addresses in the Haffner's Way plan.

A proposed 26-unit subdivision at 171 and 281R Magnolia Ave. remains on the agenda but was previously continued to Nov. 18. The commission is also scheduled to ratify an enforcement order over unpermitted fill and construction at 7 Sumac Lane, and to discuss a restoration plan at 137 Wingaersheek Road.

Essex

Selectmen with Board of Public Works and Finance Committee, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 7 p.m.

The three boards meet at Town Hall, 30 Martin St., to coordinate "a variety of projects and initiatives" now facing the Board of Public Works, according to the posting. The department is run by an acting superintendent, and the town is looking for a permanent one after the former superintendent retired in December 2025.

School building community meetings

The school district's online calendar lists the next Essex School Building Committee community meeting on Thursday, Oct. 8, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Essex Elementary School, 12 Story St., and another Tuesday, Oct. 13, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Manchester Memorial School, 43 Lincoln St.

Essex selectmen have posted both meetings so a quorum of the board can attend. A schedule shown to the building committee Sept. 22 lists the same dates.

Council on Aging, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 3 p.m.

The board meets at the Essex Senior Center, 17 Pickering St., and will discuss changing its meeting time and allowing members to attend remotely.

Rockport

The Historical Commission meets on Zoom Thursday, Oct. 1, at 4 p.m., and a Thacher and Straitsmouth Island meeting is set for Zoom at 7 p.m. the same night, according to the town calendar.

Update, Oct. 4: The school district's calendar now lists the Essex School Building Committee community meetings on Thursday, Oct. 8, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Essex Elementary School and Tuesday, Oct. 13, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Manchester Memorial Elementary School, matching the Essex selectmen's postings. Earlier versions of this story gave the district's earlier listing of Wednesday, Oct. 7.