Swampscott panel to issue citizen survey

SWAMPSCOTT – The Planning Board will issue a public survey asking residents to identify future development priorities, a beginning step for formulating a community master plan.”We have various and sundry (reports and recommendations) from various committees over the years, but nothing’s ever happened,” Vice Chairman Angela Ippolito said at the Planning Board’s Monday night meeting.”Where do we go from here? What is the process?”The town completed a Community Development Plan in 2004. A subcommittee expanded this effort by focusing on improving Humphrey Street, issuing its report in 2007. Two years later, a committee revised the zoning bylaws.But on Monday night Ippolito brought a copy of what she said was the town’s latest Master Plan – a document she described as identifying issues facing the town and recommending planning goals for the town’s future that was more encompassing than the efforts during the 2000s. The document was dated 1971.”My father worked on this!” Ippolito said.Town Planner and Energy Efficiency Manager Peter Kane told board members there was no set way to develop a master plan but the effort requires significant community input. A committee holds public hearings as the plan is drafted and data is collected, he said. Town Meeting must also accept the plan, he said, and approve any zoning bylaws recommended by the plan in order to accomplish its stated goals.Board member Sylvia Belkin suggested a questionnaire to promote local involvement and gauge the community’s opinion of the top issues facing the town.Kane predicted the survey would generally ask “what people liked about Swampscott, what to fix ? and where they envisioned Swampscott in 10 years.” Committee members should expect a 15-percent return rate, he said. Board members recommended they hold a public meeting to discuss the results.Ippolito said the committee would send Kane ideas for questions and report back on a time line at their next meeting.”The time line depends on when we can get it out and the most economical way to do it,” Ippolito said. “But we’re excited to start the process.”Cyrus Moulton can be reached at [email protected].