The Swampscott Office of Community and Economic Development hosted an information session on its zoning bylaws ahead of Town Meeting on May 20.

Assistant Town Administrator and Director of Planning and Use S. Peter Kane led the presentation that broke down the four warrant articles that pertain to the topic.

The first article reviewed was the zoning act itself, titled “MBTA Communities Zoning.”

In 2021, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts instituted a law, section 3A of the Zoning Act, mandating that MBTA communities “shall have at least one zoning district of reasonable size in which multi-family housing is permitted as of right and meets criteria set forth in the statute.”

Kane described the article’s purpose as “to encourage the creation of more housing options in locations with access to public transit.”

Swampscott is considered an “MBTA Community” due to the presence of its commuter rail station and bus lines. Two of the biggest requirements include a density of 15 units per acre and a minimum multi-family unit capacity of 954. The proposed article comfortably surpasses the minimum requirements, with 35 and 25 units per acre with the Essex Street and Vinnin Square overlays respectively, and 1,148 in multi-family unit capacity.

Kane named some potential benefits of the town adopting the bylaw, such as maintaining eligibility for certain state funding as well as creating support for local businesses by creating more residential presence.

The deadline to reach compliance with the state’s mandate is Dec. 31.

The second article reviewed  was an amendment to the liquor establishment bylaw, which would allow liquor-serving establishments to be located within 200 feet of parks, schools, churches, or libraries.

Kane presented multiple businesses located on Humphrey Street that have not been able to sell alcohol due to their proximity to one of the listed locations.

“This amendment is to remove that restriction because we do have plenty of instances where restaurants do want to open up,” Kane said.

 The bylaw also holds places such as car service stations and gas stations to the same rule. However, Kane emphasized that the amendment only includes lifting the rule for liquor establishments.

Land Use Coordinator Marissa Meaney took over for Kane to discuss the nonconforming single and two-family structures. The purpose of the amendment is to ensure that the town’s bylaw is not in conflict with the state law.

“Our current local bylaw supersedes the protections that are offered by the state,” Meaney said. “We sent out an opinion to our town counsel, and town counsel responded back saying ‘the language in your bylaw goes too far…,’ what we’re doing right now is simply looking to modify our language to bring it in compliance with the state.”

Meaney said this amendment is significant because approximately 90% of structures in Swampscott currently classify as nonconforming.

“99.9% of the time it gets deferred to the Zoning Board of Appeals for relief because of this one little rule where if you add more than 15% to your existing gross square footage, you need relief from the ZBA,” Meaney explained.

 The proposed amendment would allow residents with nonconforming structures to build additions to the property as long as it is dimensionally compliant by the Building Commissioner.

The final article discussed Wednesday was a proposed amendment to the Accessory Dwelling Unit Bylaw. Kane described it as more of a correction than an amendment, which removes a portion that gives the Board of Appeals authority to decide whether additional parking would be necessary at certain residential locations.

“The Board of Appeals is not even part of the process,” Kane said.

If the amendments pass at Town Meeting, approval from the attorney general would be expected sometime between August and September.