Swampscott Planning Board approves ADU and roof expansion, delays Puritan Road decision

SWAMPSCOTT — May 11, 2026 — Swampscott Planning Board approves two residential special permits and flags zoning gap putting Humphrey Street storefronts at risk. The board voted 4-0 at its May 11 meeting to grant a site plan special permit for an 828-square-foot accessible ADU addition at 3 Robin Lane for property owner Cheryl Berenbaum, whose husband has been unable to return home since suffering a stroke, and 4-0 to approve a roof-ridge expansion creating approximately 902 square feet of third-floor living space at 11 Eulow Street for owner Julie Callum, conditioned on the applicant obtaining Zoning Board of Appeals dimensional relief at the ZBA's May 26 hearing. A long-running petition for a third-floor buildout at 40 Puritan Road was continued to June 8 after member Angela Ippolito calculated the proposed living area at 858 square feet — 104 square feet above the bylaw's half-story limit — and both she and member Jared Jeremiah said the plan set contained conflicting dimensions that made it "indefensible" to approve. Town Planner Krista Donahue warned that the Humphrey Street overlay district currently allows developers to convert mixed-use ground-floor commercial buildings into up to six residential units with only design review, with no use-permit check from the ZBA, and said multiple such requests are already in process; the board agreed to target a December 2026 town meeting submission for a bylaw amendment adding conversion controls or requiring ground-floor commercial uses. Joe Sheridan was elected chair and Angela Ippolito vice chair, both unanimously.