SWAMPSCOTT — Land Use and Development Planner Marissa Meaney has announced her last day in the position will be Thursday.
Meaney sat down to speak with The Daily Item Tuesday afternoon about her time in the role and her next steps in her professional career as a Principal Planner for the City of Wakefield.
“Five years ago I was applying for jobs and I had been out of graduate school for a little under a year. … I had just completed my master’s degree in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University, so I was looking to get started in my career, and luckily, Swampscott was the one that stuck,” she explained.
She began her work in Town Hall as the Land Use Coordinator, and was given her current title in September 2023.
Meaney then went on to explain her role in town. “My main role is liaising for the four land-use boards and commissions: Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, the Conservation Commission, and the Historic District Commission,” she said. “Depending on the level of jurisdiction that a certain board or commission has, that determines the amount of work that I would do for them.”
She continued, explaining how thorough the work can be to make sure everything has been done properly. “The Planning Board never wants to let something just be ‘rubber-stamped.’ They really want to scrutinize it and make sure every process is going to be followed through appropriately,” she said.
One of the more intricate elements of her work boils down to balancing the needs of residents, developers, and environmental priorities.
“It can be hard, especially in a time when we’re dealing with a rapidly-expanding urban environment,” she said. “Because we’re so close to Boston and other communities in the larger metro area, we are feeling the effects of development at a much greater scale, I think … because we’re surrounded by medium-sized cities, and Swampscott by contrast is a small town.
“Because Swampscott is built out for the most part, there’s very little virgin land we have left in town,” Meaney said. “The development that we are seeing is in-field development … so, we’re seeing properties turn over and expand.”
She cited a two-family home on Boynton Street that was knocked down and turned into eight condo units.
“Particularly in that neighborhood in town, where you’re a block away from the train station, that’s where we already have our denser multi-family developments … so, residents are already starting to feel the effects of over-development,” she said. “On the other side of town, you have much larger lots and districts that are zoned for single-family homes.”
Meaney elaborated, saying the zoning regulations are in place “so that we are able to use our tools to find that balance between the developers and the residents in that immediate neighborhood.
“We do the best we can with the tools that we have in front of us, and unfortunately you can’t please everybody, but we also can’t turn a blind eye to people who want to invest in town as well,” she said.
She added that looking ahead, she plans to utilize the skills she’s learned in school and in her current position to continue the trajectory of her career.
“I have learned a lot in my time here, and I think I’m just excited and ready to move on to a slightly-bigger town where I can practice the planning skills that I’ve learned in school, and also be able to apply here, as well.”
Interim Town Administrator and Director of the Department of Public Works Gino Cresta commented on Meaney’s departure from Town Hall.
“Marissa (Meaney) has been such a great asset,” Cresta said. “She will be dearly missed, and I wish her the very best. … She’s bright, and I know she’ll be successful in whatever she does.”
