Vinnin Square Design Guidelines

At the Annual Town Meeting held in May 2023, Town Meeting Members voted to approve zoning changes that regulate a portion of Vinnin Square located between Essex Street and Paradise Road, more commonly known as the Swampscott Mall. These zoning changes are intended to encourage future mixed-use redevelopment and investments that would strengthen the Town's commercial tax base. The adoption of "Design Guidelines" is a required component of the new zoning bylaws. The purpose of Design Guidelines is to provide direction for and help regulate the architectural, landscape and pedestrian aspects of any future redevelopment project.

The Town of Swampscott, with the Planning Board as the lead, is working with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) to facilitate a planning process to develop the Design Guidelines for this area. The process kicked off with an interactive community forum on August 29, 2023, where residents were able to provide feedback to help define the Town's vision for this portion of Vinnin Square, identify priorities for Design Guidelines, and begin to establish parameters for a successful transformation of Vinnin Square properties. 

On October 16, 2023, Principal Planner from the MAPC, Josh Fiala, presented a draft version of the Design Guidelines to the Planning Board. Over the next two months, the Planning Board members will be reviewing the draft guidelines and providing feedback, with the goal of adopting a final version of the guidelines at the December 2023 meeting of the Board. During this time, residents are encouraged, as well, to review the guidelines and provide feedback. The guidelines are linked below, and comments can be sent to Marissa Meaney, Land Use Coordinator, at mmeaney@swampscottma.gov. 

Additional community meetings will be held in conjunction with the monthly Planning Board meetings, so please be sue to check the Planning Board page for their monthly meeting agendas.