Haffner's Way hearing moves to Nov. 19, and Gloucester's Planning Board gets until Dec. 31 to decide

Gloucester's Planning Board met for 11 minutes Thursday and pushed its hearing on the Haffner's Way subdivision to Thursday, Nov. 19. The board also agreed to give itself until Dec. 31 to decide the case. Both votes were 7 to 0, from the meeting video.

What happened

• Energy North Inc., the applicant, asked for the continuance. The public hearing on its two lot industrial subdivision off Sargent Street now continues at the board's next regular meeting, Nov. 19 at 5 p.m.
• State law gives a planning board a set time to act on a subdivision plan. That deadline would have fallen in November. The board and the applicant agreed to extend it to Dec. 31. The planning director said that covers the next three meetings, and another extension may be needed later.
• The board approved its Sept. 17 meeting minutes. It held the Oct. 1 minutes so staff can add what board members said that night, including a member's request for a list of every waiver the applicant wants.
• Four board members missed the site visit. Staff will set up a second one with the applicant in the next two weeks.
• 46 Millett Street will be dropped from the agenda description. The applicant told the board on Oct. 1 that it is no longer buying that parcel.

Why the dates matter

The Haffner's Way plan asks the board to approve a 753 foot private road and two industrial lots on about 9.5 acres of the old Sargent Street junkyard. The application does not say what would be built on the lots. Seventeen people spoke against it at the Oct. 1 hearing, and the board voted that night to hire an outside reviewer paid for by the applicant.

Under the state subdivision law (Chapter 41, Section 81U), a plan that a planning board does not act on in time can be treated as approved. That is why the extension vote came first Thursday. Planning Director Gregg Cademartori told the board the applicant had agreed in writing to the new Dec. 31 date.

The continuance means residents who want to speak have two more weeks. Written comments go into the public record at any time; the city's Planning Board folder for the case already holds 17 written comments from the fall.

The plans

The plan on file is the one the board has had since Aug. 13. Nothing new was added to the city's Planning Board folder for the Nov. 5 meeting: it holds the agenda and the draft minutes of the two earlier meetings. The next step, the outside review, has not been posted.

• Where: the former junkyard off Sargent Street, west of Gale Road (the parcels carry Sargent Street, Gale Road and Gloucester Avenue addresses; Assessor's Map 32, Lots 18 and 22; Map 33, Lot 3; Map 43, Lots 1 and 2).
• What: a 753 foot road ending in a cul-de-sac, one stormwater basin, a sidewalk on one side, and two lots. The concept drawing shows a 17,200 square foot building on one lot and an 18,250 square foot building on the other, but the filing says there are no known or proposed uses.
• Waivers: the applicant wants relief from the road width, grade and length rules. A member asked that the list of waivers be in the minutes.
• Other reviews: the Conservation Commission has its own case on the road, which sits inside the 100 foot wetland buffer. It is expected to take that up Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 5:30 p.m.

What was decided

• Extend the board's time to act on Haffner's Way to Dec. 31, 2026: approved, 7 to 0 by roll call, from the meeting video.
• Continue the Haffner's Way public hearing to Nov. 19, 2026: approved, 7 to 0 by roll call, from the meeting video.
• Sept. 17 minutes: approved, 5 in favor with two members abstaining because they were absent that night, from the meeting video.
• Oct. 1 minutes: held for additions. No vote.

What happens next

• Wednesday, Nov. 18, 5:30 p.m.: Conservation Commission, Haffner's Way road and stormwater case (expected).
• Thursday, Nov. 19, 5 p.m.: Planning Board, continued Haffner's Way hearing, on Zoom. Chair Rick Noonan said he and member Shawn Henry expect to miss that meeting.
• Dec. 31: the board's new deadline to act, unless extended again.
• Site visit: staff will circulate dates for a second visit with the applicant in the next two weeks.

Where to find the records

• Planning Board agenda, Nov. 5
• Planning Board shared folder, with the Nov. 5 agenda, draft minutes and the Haffner's Way application
• Meeting recording, on the city's November 2026 Past Meetings page

Earlier coverage: Gloucester boards order outside review of Sargent Street junkyard road (Oct. 18), the Oct. 1 hearing.

How we did this: Cape Ann Current watched the meeting online and checked names and dates against the agenda, the city's Planning Board folder and the board's roster on the city website. These are our meeting notes, not the city's minutes.