Key Points
- The Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously issued the favorable report required for the recently approved Ambler Farm lease agreement.
- First Selectman Toni Boucher said town attorneys believe the charter’s lease-review process is confusing and should be revised.
- The lease formalizes a long-term arrangement under which Friends of Ambler Farm continues operating and maintaining the town-owned property.
Why It Matters: The lease secures the future operating relationship between the town and Friends of Ambler Farm, while raising questions about whether Wilton’s charter should be updated to streamline how municipal property leases are reviewed.
Wilton’s Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously endorsed the town’s recently approved lease agreement with the Friends of Ambler Farm at its Monday, Jun. 8 meeting, but the review also highlighted what town attorneys say is a confusing provision in the Town Charter that may need to be updated.
Under Section 8-24 of the Connecticut General Statutes, local planning and zoning commissions are required to review municipal proposals to sell or lease town-owned property. The requirement is also incorporated into Wilton’s Town Charter.
First Selectman Toni Boucher attended the meeting to request the commissioners issue a favorable report for the lease agreement recently negotiated between the Town and the Friends of Ambler Farm.
While the favorable report is advisory and required by state statute, the lease itself had already been approved by voters.
Boucher told commissioners that Wilton’s town counsel believes the process requiring P&Z review of leases involving town-owned property is “a little convoluted and slightly backwards,” even though officials followed the procedure outlined in both state law and the Town Charter.
She said that town counsel advised her that the Town Charter might need to be revised to improve the process of requesting an 8-24-mandated report from P&Z in the future.
“We bring [the lease] to you because it was the advice of our town counsel that this is the proper process, even though they do believe the charter at some point should be changed and improved as the process seems a little backwards,” Boucher said.
Following Boucher’s presentation, the commissioners had no questions or comments and proceeded immediately to a vote to issue a favorable report.
“Thank you very much for this, it’s gratifying,” Boucher said after the vote. “And also thank you for the hard work that you do. I think [P&Z is] one of the most difficult boards in the town, we appreciate your service.”
Long-Term Agreement for Ambler Farm
“For the last two-and-a-half years, we’ve been negotiating back and forth with the Board of Selectmen and the Friends of Ambler Farm and our attorneys, and we finally came to a resolution that everybody agreed to,” Boucher said.
Under the terms of the lease agreement, FOAF rents the town-owned Ambler Farm property for a symbolic fee of $1 per year plus utilities, currently estimated at $1,000 per year. The nonprofit is responsible for non-structural repairs up to an annual limit that is currently $10,000.
The lease runs for 10 years, with options for up to eight additional 10-year extensions.
The final draft of the lease agreement was unveiled in December 2025 and voters overwhelmingly approved it at the 2026 Annual Town Meeting.
Boucher explained to the commissioners that FOAF has maintained the property and offers a range of educational, agricultural and community programs and activities for more than 20 years through the efforts of volunteers.
She estimated that those efforts have saved Wilton “nearly a million dollars over that period of time.”
Under the agreement, the town is responsible for utilities, major building repairs and maintaining the property’s buildings and infrastructure in working order.
“What’s unique about this town-owned property is the deed was very specific on what the town had to do,” Boucher told the commissioners. “If [the town] didn’t accomplish all of these things, … the Ambler Trust could buy it back at a reduced cost.”
