Lobsterman Who Sold From Home Is Battling Town Of Yarmouth

Image from the Town of Yarmouth showing the Yarmouth Zoning Board of Appeals meeting on April 10th, 2025.

YARMOUTH – The Yarmouth Zoning Board of Appeals held a contentious meeting last week concerning a lobsterman who was told after decades that he could no longer sell his product from home. 

“Captain Jon” Tolley and his father before him have sold lobsters from their house on Iroquois Boulevard in West Yarmouth since the 1950s.

Last summer, the Yarmouth building commissioner took action after a complaint was issued by another resident. The order stated that the retail sales could not continue in the residential zone, and that the sales were not protected as a pre-existing use.

The Yarmouth Zoning Board voted to uphold the building commissioner decision in October.

Tolley and his attorney brought the case back before the board last week, and the board chair determined that the decision from last fall must stand for a two-year period.

A large audience that supported Tolley voiced displeasure with the board’s vote to not re-hear the petition, and several members of the public approached board members. Police officers had to be called in to clear the room.

Tolley was told that he could either pursue his case through the Superior Court, or petition for a special town meeting.