[Speaker 2] (0:00 - 1:28)
So we're here to talk about Article 21 in your Town Meeting Warrant, which is to amend Zoning By-law and Zoning Map to rezone certain parcels from A2 to A4. So that language reads, to see if the Town will vote to amend the Swampscot Zoning By-law and Zoning Map to rezone the following parcels of land that are currently zoned in the Residence A2 District to be zoned in the Residence A4 District as established by the Zoning By-law Section 2.1.0.0. Those parcels are as follows, 6-1, 6-1B, 6-1C, 6-1D, 6-1E, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4A, 6-5, 6-6, 6-7, and 6-8. I'm not saying that again.

All is shown in Appendix J or take any action relative there too. So what does that all mean? The Zoning Map update would rezone properties currently zoned as A2 to the A4 Zoning District.

The surrounding area to this small block is currently zoned A4. Approval of this zoning change will bring these properties into the same Zoning District as the adjacent area while also bringing most of the properties into use conformance. So Angela, if you look at the Zoning Map, there's sort of this small A2 District next to the A4.

Can you explain maybe the history behind that and why we're here today?

[Speaker 1] (1:28 - 3:38)
I'll be happy to. This is a very small cluster of the block of homes that's located just I guess north or perhaps west of the train station just behind Columbia Avenue. That entire area was rezoned from A3 to A4 back in 2018 when we created the A4 District which is our most permissive Zoning District.

It's two family by right and three to eight units by special permit. It has the most permissive setbacks, dimension requirements, and so forth. And what happened was because in 2018 we just took a blanket.

All of these A3 properties will now become A4 when the Zoning Map was changed. For some reason, this little cluster, this one cluster of homes in this specific block was zoned A2. And for the life of me, we've not been able to dig through it and figure out why it was ever zoned as A2 to begin with.

We think it was just a zoning error or Zoning Map error. But in any event, it was so that when the map change happened and they transferred all the A3s to A4, this little parcel was left out because of course it was in A2. So this is essentially an administrative change that just brings that cluster of properties into compliance with the rest of the district.

It also, because there are multi-family homes in that cluster of properties, it brings those homes into compliance. And this was actually proposed to us by the residents who went to look at their property for whatever reason it might have been. They might have been looking at the two family and so forth and noticed that they were in an A2 district and brought it to our attention.

So we're fixing it and that's the purpose.

[Speaker 2] (3:39 - 3:40)
Short and sweet. I like it.

[Speaker 1] (3:40 - 3:41)
Short and sweet.

[Speaker 2] (3:41 - 3:43)
Seems to make sense to me. Thanks for explaining it.

[Speaker 1] (3:43 - 3:44)
You're welcome.