Peabody, Saugus and Swampscott don’t share significant similarities but the three occupy enough common ground to focus on mutually assisting each other’s progress.
Peabody just lost a veteran planning director and Saugus made a late fall decision to create a planning department and hire two experienced planners. Route 1 supplies Peabody and Saugus with property tax revenue and Swampscott, like Saugus, has embarked on marine-related planning.
A 2017 discussion bringing together town officials and residents from the communities could help shed even more light on shared goals and obstacles. A focused dialogue could generate ideas for pooling planning resources and ideas to create benefits for the three communities.
Saugus is seeing a resurgence in Route 1 development with new plans emerging for commercial sites along the road. Peabody has similar visions for its stretch of the highway and Saugus developers might be interested in looking up the road to help make those visions come true.
Swampscott has launched initial conversations into waterfront improvements, including potentially expensive projects aimed at reducing ocean storm flooding. On the proverbial opposite end of the spectrum, Saugus is making strides in bringing a proposed river walk to the banks of the Saugus River.
https://newitemlive.wpengine.com/opinion/saugus-on-the-move-with-riverwalk/
The walkway is intended to bring more people to the river and businesses along it and provide an eventual link to outdoor opportunities on the Lynn side of the river and nearby Rumney Marsh. Saugus officials and residents need to discuss protection from ocean-borne storms as much as Swampscott residents need to consider ideas for enhancing the town’s waterfront.
All three communities are focused on improving access to their central business districts. Peabody’s Main Street initiative has become a multi-year project. Swampscott repaved Humphrey Street this year and Saugus residents and merchants just attended a discussion on making Cliftondale Square more business friendly.
Each community has its own planning expertise and objectives. But what if the three could pool their resources and ideas? The collective effort might yield some unexpected common interests and some surprise solutions to planning problems. Who knows? Getting everyone around the table might also shave money off some proposed municipal projects.