Late Friday, GOOD Morning Wilton learned details about a new restaurant being opened in South Wilton, at 22 Danbury Rd., a long-vacant building that was the former site of the Hitchcock Fine Furnishings Store. Plans for the property have been submitted to Wilton’s Planning & Zoning Department, and an application for a special permit is scheduled to be accepted this evening by the P&Z Commission, according to the agenda for tonight’s Commission meeting.
Among the documents on file are schematic plans and architectural drawings showing illustrations of signs on the proposed building that says Spotted Horse Tavern, which is the name of a successful Westport restaurant.
The application was submitted by Gregory and Adams attorney J. Casey Healy; the applicant’s name as listed on the documents that were filed at Town Hall is SG 22 Danbury Rd. LLC. GMW contacted Healy for confirmation about whether the planned restaurant will be a second outpost of the Spotted Horse Tavern, and he emailed back to say he would check with the owner(s). He wrote:
“I do not know whether the restaurant will be the Spotted Horse. I will reach out and ask. I believe the name was used as an example of where the signage for the restaurant would be placed on the building.”
A follow-up question asking whether Healy’s client(s) own the Westport Spotted Horse wasn’t answered by press time.
The property is immediately north of Gateway Plaza, the shopping center where TJ Maxx and Michael’s are located. It is two parcels south of The Little Pub.
As part of the application, there is a “Statement of Compliance with Plan of Conservation and Development,” which states that the applicant intends to “reduce the size of a former retail building on the premises and convert it to be used as a restaurant…a special permitted use in the DRB [Design Retail Business] zone…compatible with the Town’s POCD.”
The site drawings and application show that the applicant intends to demolish a garage in the rear of the existing structure and add a paved parking lot with 51 parking spaces. In addition there are reports and details as part of the application packet covering landscaping, erosion control, engineering and grading. The illustrations show an outdoor, covered patio.