Progress on the Archer Trail has paused as a group of neighbors are displeased with what they describe as a “bait and switch,” Swampscott resident Frank Smith told the Swampscott Tides.
“What actually happened and the way that everything was rolled out is so far from the design…These are not the three-foot wide trails that were proposed,” Frank said. “This is a problem. They went around and told everyone they would do one thing but then they did whatever they wanted with zero oversight, zero permitting and zero process. As a result, this is going to cost the taxpayers of Swampscott many hundreds of thousands of dollars in remediation.”
At a June 2022 Special Town Meeting, voters approved the purchase of several properties, including the Archer Street parcel and the former Hawthorne-by-the-Sea restaurant site. The Archer Street land had previously been slated for a large housing redevelopment project.
In 2024, the town submitted a grant application for trail construction. That same year, Town Meeting allocated $225,000 for construction and accepted a $112,500 state grant.
The project was expected to be completed by the fall, with work hopefully starting after the snow had thawed. It was supposed to span approximately three-quarters of a mile with entrances at Park Street, Connelly Avenue, Vaughan Place, and Archer Street.
Town Administrator Nick Connors announced at the April 15 Select Board meeting that the project has been put on hold until the Conservation Commission’s virtual meeting on Wednesday, April 28. He said he walked the site with neighbors.
“It was really great to hear the concerns directly, as opposed to the emails and phone calls that I’ve had, and have a broader conversation about it,” Connors said. “There will be no other construction done at this time as we work with staff to verify information and work to move forward.”
The Swampscott Tides reviewed six emails from neighbors about the proposed trail sent to Connors and other town staff. They all raised concerns about flooding, while also noting appreciation for “the town’s efforts to preserve this land.”
Smith said the original plan had been supported by neighborhoods around the proposed trail.
“The original plan we were on board with. We were on the same page that we supported this. We actually thought that the trails were a good thing,” Smith said. “(Connors) noted that he was definitely in agreement that what was on the plan did not match what was presented. Many of the materials that were used were not approved either.”
At the end of March, Smith sent a letter to “formally demand that the town of Swampscott immediately cease and desist all construction, development and related activities associated with the Archer Trails project.”
“This demand is made on the basis of serious and substantiated concerns regarding critical design flaws in the project that pose a significant and imminent risk of flooding to adjacent and nearby residential properties,” the letter states, as read by the Swampscott Tides. “These defects, if not addressed, are likely to result in substantial property damage, diminution of property values and potential threats to public safety.”
At a meeting in January, Community and Economic Development Director Marzie Galazka hosted Department of Public Works Director Gino Cresta and Greener Group landscape project manager Justin Savickis. It was announced that the rails will remain natural and unpaved. Savickis said bicycles and strollers should be able to navigate the terrain.
“There was a section of compacted aggregate that was supposed to be used along a stretch of the trail. That stretch of the trail does in fact have it, but the remainder of the trail system is not supposed to have any of that,” Smith said. “It’s supposed to be natural or a top soil.”
Several large boulders along the route would be incorporated into the design and used as resting areas.
Smith went on to explain that the grading of the trail now will lead to flooding “directly into people’s yards.” The compacting “now qualifies them as paved walkways if they’re left this way.”
Smith, however, also alleges that the group “did not follow the permitting process and were told by Marzie that no permit was needed and there were no wetlands up there. That is in fact not true.”
Galazka did not have a comment at this time when asked by the Swampscott Tides.
“DEP has been notified and they were the ones who were actually able to get the stop work put in place because they were able to say ‘you guys are in violation and should not be working up there in these circumstances’,” Smith said.
Pamela Merrill of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) wrote to Galazka on Friday, April 3, about a complaint regarding the trail project, “specifically that trees and understory vegetation were being cleared to construct a walking trail system within the buffer zone to bordering vegetated wetlands (BVW) and potentially within the BVW without the implementation of erosion and sedimentation controls.”
“I reviewed the aerials of the site and noticed what appears to (be) a BVS near the northwest corner of the site, between Archer and Park Streets,” Merrills stated, according to the email read by the Swampscott Tides. “I was unable to find any record of a notice of intent filing for this work.”
Under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act (WPA) regulations, specifically 310 CMR 10.02(2)(b)2., certain minor activities are exempt from permitting, including unpaved pedestrian walkways that are less than three-feet wide for public access on conservation property.
Select Board Member David Grishman, who was part of the meeting on the work stoppage, told the Swampscott Tides that there needs to be a pause.
“The town needs to do the right thing and remediate the project to align with what was originally promised (to) the town and neighbors,” Grishman said. “Glad we are taking a pause to do so, and we will get a great final product. I’m confident.”
