SWAMPSCOTT — After nearly two years of surveys, public forums, and committee meetings, the town has adopted a new roadmap intended to guide officials’ policy and priorities through 2035. 

At a recent joint meeting, the Planning Board unanimously adopted the Swampscott Master Plan 2035, while the Select Board voted to endorse the document as a framework for future policy discussions, capital planning, budgeting, grant applications, and town decision-making. 

Prepared by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council in partnership with town staff and a 27-member advisory group, the 232-page plan outlines a long-range vision for housing, transportation, economic development, climate resilience, public facilities, open space, and historic preservation. The document contains 42 goals, 96 strategies, and 247 recommended actions organized over a 10-year implementation period. 

Carlos Montañez, principal planner and project manager for MAPC, emphasized that the plan is intended to serve as a guide rather than a mandate. 

“The town’s not obligated to do it all,” Montañez told board members. “Earnestly pursuing a subset of the most compelling priority items could be regarded as a very worthwhile, successful endeavor.” 

The planning process included 385 survey responses, more than 1,800 written comments, three public forums, and a public comment period that resulted in additional revisions to the final document. 

Among the plan’s earliest recommendations are completion of the Swampscott Rail Trail, improvements to pedestrian and bicycle safety, expansion of affordable and diverse housing options, investments in stormwater and coastal-resilience infrastructure, efforts to improve beach water quality, and support for local business districts.

Montañez said one of the plan’s key recommendations is the creation of a Master Plan Implementation Committee, a volunteer and municipal body that would monitor progress, coordinate across departments, pursue grant opportunities, and provide regular updates to town boards. 

“The single most important first step tonight is establishing that recommended implementation committee,” he said. “This is priority number one after tonight.” 

A similar committee was included in the town’s previous master plan, though it had not been formally implemented. Select Board members agreed to begin defining what such a committee might look like, with hopes to adopt the recommendation by the end of 2026. 

Select Board Chair Katie Phelan said the implementation committee would require careful thought, emphasizing that its members should serve as advocates for the plan as a whole rather than individual priorities. 

“You’re looking for folks who care about the topics in the master plan, but you’re also looking for them to be champions of the master plan and not their own topics,” Phelan said. “That’s the tough balance.” 

Planning Board member Angela Ippolito, who helped lead development of the 2015 master plan, said the document has remained a useful guide for town officials long after its adoption.

“If I brought my huge paper copy of the implementation schedule from our original plan, you’d see that probably 85% of what we started was either completed or is still ongoing,” Ippolito said. “It’s been very well executed upon.”

Ippolito also said master plans provide a framework for decisions ranging from zoning and housing policy to municipal facilities and redevelopment projects. 

“These are really critical documents that have been well researched, well discussed, are well thought out, with a lot of expertise behind them,” she said. “It’s just a wonderful document to use as a guideline.” 

With both boards’ votes complete, attention now turns to implementation. The plan itself notes that its success will depend not on the document alone, but on the town’s willingness to pursue its recommendations over the coming decade.