Kimco’s proposal to redevelop the southern half of its Wilton Center campus (at 21 River Rd.) into a five-story, 169-unit mixed-use complex moved one step closer to the finish line on Thursday, July 11, when the Inland Wetlands Commission voted to approve the application. The project is currently being reviewed by the Planning and Zoning Commission and could go to public comment and even a vote by P&Z as early as tonight, Monday, July 22.
The project was initially introduced at the Thursday, May 22 meeting of Inland Wetlands, but was continued in order to give the applicants time to respond to a series of questions by the Commission and the Department of Public Works. It was then briefly waylaid when both the Conservation Commission and Inland Wetlands Commission had trouble reaching a quorum to review the project.
Gathering together at last on July 11, the Commission made quick work of the application. Both the applicant and the Commission agreed that the advance work of the town’s Environmental Affairs Department staff helped to streamline the application. Attorney Casey Healy, representing Kimco, thanked Wilton’s Director of Environmental Affairs Mike Conklin for his involvement.
“At the outset of the planning for the project, an on-site meeting was held with Director Conklin, and we were able to put the plan together based on that site visit with Mike,” Healy said. “It was a very helpful tool for this project, and certainly one that this team would follow in the future.”
Vice Chair Penelope Koechl, who chaired the meeting, also expressed support for this model of collaboration between the town and applicants. “This seems like a template for how we should do things,” she said.
For his part, Conklin explained that Kimco had responded to the questions raised by these various town entities. “This is a good example of where the application opened, the applicant listened to feedback from the Conservation Commission, from this Commission, and from myself, and made the requested changes,” he said. “I reviewed everything in detail and I don’t have any issues with this at this point.”
One major question by the Inland Wetlands Commission back in May had been the presence of non-native plant species in the landscaping proposal. By this final meeting, Healy explained that 97.5% of the plantings were native, including all of the plantings within the review area on which the Inland Wetlands Commission focuses. The remaining 2.5%, he explained, were flowering annuals that were merely decorative. Conklin agreed, drawing a distinction for the Commission between garden landscaping versus ecological plantings.
With no further questions from the Commission and no comments by the public, the hearing was closed and the Commission voted unanimously to approve the project. At the advice of Conklin, the Commissioners included a requirement that a third party reviewer inspect the site weekly (and after any rain events with greater than one inch of precipitation) during construction to check for sediment and erosion controls.
Looking Ahead
With approvals by the Department of Public Works and the Inland Wetlands and Conservation Commissions now in place, the project is now teed up for a vote by the Planning and Zoning Commission. However, on July 8, the Kimco team met with some hard questions from P&Z about whether the project was adequately meeting the requirements of the new Wilton Center zoning overlay. The main issues involved whether Kimco’s claim that a series of shrub planting beds and portions of parking spaces could count towards the half-acre of civic space that the town requires, and whether applying for LEED Silver certification is a sufficiently “exceptional public benefit” to qualify for the fifth story bonus that the company is seeking.
Earlier this year, the Architectural Review Board flagged concerns about the aesthetic design of the project, but these issues were largely omitted from the group’s report to P&Z recommending the project.
The Planning and Zoning Commission will meet tonight, Monday, July 22, to continue the public hearing. If Kimco concludes its presentation and the Commission finishes its Q&A with the applicants this evening, the meeting will then be opened for public comment. After the public comment period, the Commission then has the option to vote whether or not to approve the proposal or continue it to a future meeting. This is P&Z’s final meeting ahead of its August recess, so if a vote does not take place tonight, it may be postponed to until after Labor Day.
P&Z please demand better for Wilton! This proposal lacks the historical character that this town deserves. Currently, it loos like anywhere América. This will set the precedent for future structures. Please fight for us!
Agreed! The POCD states preserving Wilton’s RURAL character…how is this structure and design preserve or protect Wilton’s established rural character?
That’s a big building. Do you think 5 stories is necessary? Can our town handle the traffic that this large building will bring? That’s A LOT of people and CARS for a one road two side road village?
How about the parking? Enough for residents of the building 2 cars, guest, including the other residents of town and people visiting from surrounding area?
All rental? No ownership? Why? the demand is for owning not renting. We have entire new building still empty for rent.
How about the air and nose pollen did they do a study on that?
Traffic in and around our town center? Will you be able to move? Go out to the Hamptons on Long Island is congested and you can’t find parking ever. You want Wilton to be like that? Why?
I think something like this needs to be voted on by the residents. We should have a say.
This is just too much! What is the rush ????
The fifth story makes the building too looming and over-sized for Wilton Center, and the lack of some real park like space is not conforming to the POCD.
Please get it right this time!
This is a hideous structure, reminiscent of an industrial complex in some midwestern sprawl. What happeed to the ‘streets of Paris’ as one of the P & Z proposed they were aiming for? The aesthetics are awful and the residents don’t seem to have any sway over the P & Z subcommittee.
Hello, planning and zoning,
Writing in to voice my displeasure with all of the rapid development, either underway or planned , for our beautiful small town. What is the rush? Why are you not slowing down the momentum here and letting us live with ,for example, the new very large apartment building on route 7 and see what the impact is of that complex on our town. Traffic congestion, educational impact on our schools, and environmental impact, police, EMS and fire services, as well as the general well-being for all of us…..Wiltonians young and old. new and long time residents.
. I absolutely think that we should be able to vote on all of these large developments and decisions that will have a tremendous impact on our town, not only for the present day but well into the future.
Thank you.