Swampscott forum focuses on downtown

SWAMPSCOTT – Residents and officials called the Swampscott downtown area an “unappreciated” place with “inconsistent development,” “no parking,” and “lost history and beauty” at the Community Visioning Forum Tuesday night.The forum, led by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) in the Swampscott High School cafeteria, was to check in with the themes residents have asked for since the project to improve the downtown area began in 2009. The town received a $25,000 grant to make a plan by December 2012 to revitalize the area, which begins at the train station and ends at Puritan Road, with emphasis on Humphrey Street.?We are looking for what you as residents want to do with downtown – what you want changed and what you want to stay the same,” said Town Planner Pete Kane. “The end result is a report at the end of the year to recommend to the Planning Board how to go about getting what the community wants to see.”The group of about 25 people included residents and representatives from the Harbor Advisory Committee, the Historical Commission and the Planning Board, plus Town Administrator Thomas Younger and Selectman Jill Sullivan. They worked together in groups of six to identify strengths, challenges and opportunities for the downtown area.The groups reported back with their top five opportunities for the area to add to the 18 already on the list added from other forums. Ideas included more commercial development around the train station, using the Fish House at Fisherman?s Beach as a parking lot and making the area more bicycle-friendly. Many felt that the downtown area needed more of an identity.Sam Cleaves, MAPC Senior Regional Planner, said there will be another public forum with the Lynn Area Chamber of Commerce for public safety workers and town officials before the end of the year.Kait Taylor can be reached at [email protected].