Drosopoulos Family Withdraws Brant Rock Mixed-Use Variance Application Without Prejudice

MARSHFIELD — June 23, 2026 — A proposed 36-unit mixed-use development on the Brant Rock Esplanade was withdrawn without prejudice Tuesday after the Marshfield Zoning Board of Appeals signaled it would not support all three variances the project requires. The ZBA voted 4-1 to allow the Drosopoulos family — operators of the Venus restaurant and Rocky Roads ice cream shop — to pull the application for their 239-287 Ocean Street project, which sought relief from commercial parking requirements, a building height of 59 feet 6 inches against a bylaw ceiling of roughly 42 feet above grade, and a requirement that residential parking be located above base flood elevation. Attorney Jonathan Silverstein told the board "we see where this is going" after a finding-by-finding poll on the commercial parking variance showed member Steve Lynch voting no on every criterion while the chair and three other members indicated support. The chair said flatly of the residential parking elevation requirement: "It's just a bylaw — I don't know that I as a human being in this town can overrule the will of the people for that," referencing a 2025 town meeting vote that reaffirmed the requirement by roughly nine-tenths. A civil engineer retained by the applicants reported that a code-compliant raised parking layout would yield only 14 spaces — enough to serve three or four of the proposed 36 two-bedroom units.