Shaping the Future oF Humphrey Street - Zoning Proposal Presentation

At this year’s Annual Town Meeting on May 4, Town Meeting will be asked to consider adoption of the Humphrey Street Overlay District zoning bylaw sponsored by the Planning Board. This is an extension of the Humphrey Street Overlay District bylaw work that was done last year, which has been developed with some additional refinements and adjustments to ensure the purpose of the bylaw is followed through.

The Planning Board will be holding two public informational sessions over the next couple months to explain what the bylaw is, how it’s been improved since last year’s effort, and what it means to the neighborhood, the business community and the town at large. The information at the sessions will be the same, so if one date doesn’t work with your schedule we hope you can attend the other option.

Humphrey Street Overlay District Bylaw
Public Information Sessions
Thursday March 19 & Thursday April 16
7:00 PM
Swampscott Senior Center, 200 Essex St (rear)

The historic Swampscott center of Humphrey Street has been a long-standing discussion piece for residents and businesses. Over the past years, many studies have been undertaken in order to better understand what the community wants Humphrey Street to become. The time to move from study to action is now.

Last year’s informational sessions were attended by over 200 residents! Please be sure to attend one of these upcoming informative sessions and make your voice heard.

Through the Humphrey Street Revitalization Committee and most recently the Community Visioning Study, it was strongly evident that the community desires a more livable, active Humphrey Street that mixes the commercial and residential neighborhood aspects. This previous work identified the objectives of changes to the streetscape, zoning, development pattern and land use capabilities to help make this dream a reality.

The Humphrey Street Overlay District (HSOD) is meant to encourage development in the historic downtown of Swampscott that enhances and encourages a mix of uses, protects historic and cultural resources, helps create a sense of place, and connects to the natural environment of the waterside. This bylaw intends to promote future economic, cultural, and environmental opportunities and development within the downtown area.

The purposes of the HSOD are as follows:

• To establish preferred patterns and a design framework for the historic downtown and to protect and enhance the overall quality of the built environment in the district while balancing aesthetic concerns;
• To respect the scale and character of the residential and commercial mix in the HSOD and surrounding residential district by applying a high level of attention to site and building design which promotes attractive and functional development;
• To promote compact development that is pedestrian oriented and preserves the historic value and character of the area;
• To encourage building designs and practices that are adaptable to multiple uses and add flexibility for responding to conditions and constraints inherent to specific sites;
• To create a sense of place that connects residents and visitors to the built and natural environment through a thoughtful mix of business, residential, cultural, educational, and civic uses; and
• To apply to all types of development in the HSOD including public and private.

The proposed bylaw and zoning map are available for download on the Town website.