Key Points
- The Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously selected IMEG to undertake a comprehensive, 16-month rewrite of Wilton’s zoning regulations, with completion targeted for October 2027.
- The overhaul will include a line-by-line review of the Town’s 270-plus-page zoning code, addressing decades of piecemeal amendments and recommending updates across residential, commercial, environmental and design regulations.
- Commissioners also outlined a busy fall agenda, including adoption of middle housing design standards, affordable housing discussions and preparation for Connecticut’s new housing growth planning requirements.
Why It Matters: The zoning rewrite and upcoming housing initiatives will shape how Wilton manages future development, implements new state housing laws and updates land-use regulations that affect residents, businesses and property owners for years to come.
Wilton’s Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) took several significant steps toward reshaping the Town’s land-use policies during its Monday, July 27 meeting, unanimously selecting a consultant to undertake a comprehensive rewrite of the town’s zoning regulations while laying the groundwork for a busy fall agenda that includes focusing on middle housing standards and long-term housing planning.
The commission selected Hartford-based consulting firm IMEG to conduct the first comprehensive review and update of the town’s zoning regulations in decades. The effort, town officials said, will address the cumulative effects of 30 years of piecemeal updates that have left portions of the code inconsistent, outdated and ambiguous.
In addition to conducting a line-by-line review of the 270-plus-page zoning regulations, including the Wilton Center and Cannon Crossing village district design guidelines, IMEG will provide recommendations for changes to the town’s residential, business and design enterprise district zoning as well as provisions covering signage, off-street parking and loading, environmental regulations, and permitted uses of property.
P&Z commissioners voted unanimously during their Jul. 27 meeting to select IMEG, which bills itself as the state’s largest planning and design firm. IMEG was one of three firms that responded to the town’s request for proposals (RFP) seeking land-use consultants to undertake the comprehensive update.
The RFP, issued in May, was the town’s second attempt at hiring a consultant. The first RFP resulted in proposals that exceeded the town’s available budget. Posting the revised request was delayed when officials couldn’t account for $100,000 that had been earmarked in P&Z’s budget for hiring consultants.
“All three groups did an excellent job making presentations, and it is the feeling of the commission that they all spoke directly to what our needs are and had a good process to put this in place,” P&Z Chair Ken Hoffman said in his brief remarks prior to the vote.
Following the requirements laid out in the RFP, IMEG’s proposal spells out a 16-month schedule for the review process, with completion targeted for October 2027. It recommends keeping residents informed through an informational workshop to explain the process, a public presentation of the draft changes prior to P&Z’s public hearings, and through flyers, website content and other outreach materials.
The town will convene a steering committee consisting of Director of Planning and Land Use Management Michael Wrinn, Zoning Enforcement Officer Timothy Bunting, and selected representatives from P&Z and other commissions. IMEG staff will meet with the committee for a kickoff meeting and again at the 30%, 60%, and 90% completion stages, and project staff will participate in P&Z’s public hearings.
If all goes smoothly, the rewrite process could be complete and ready for public hearings by October 2027.
Wrinn said the next step is for town counsel to prepare a standard agreement for IMEG to sign.
“We’ll get that going and try to figure out a good timetable with [IMEG] to move this forward,” Wrinn said.
Housing Initiatives Return This Fall
P&Z will not be meeting in August, so during the Jul. 27 meeting Wrinn brought the commissioners up to speed on several items that they will be addressing upon their return.
First and foremost was the status of the Architectural Review Board’s (ARB) review of the new transit oriented middle housing chapter of the zoning regulations, which P&Z approved at the end of June prior to a state-mandated deadline. The chapter was adopted with the understanding that ARB would provide more detailed standards for building materials, architectural details and site design that P&Z could then adopt through an amendment.
According to Connecticut’s new housing law, Special Session Public Act 25-1, an Act Concerning Housing Growth, middle housing projects are only subject to summary reviews by the zoning enforcement officer, instead of through the usual public hearing process.
With the commissioners’ approval, Wrinn will schedule a public hearing on the ARB’s edits at P&Z’s next meeting on Sept. 14.
Wrinn also promised to send P&Z’s affordable housing subcommittee information on how other towns are handling housing affordability, and will set up a public Zoom meeting for the commissioners to deliberate.
Wrinn also reminded the commissioners that Public Act 25-1 requires Wilton to have a formal housing growth plan in place in 2029. He noted that the Western Connecticut Council of Governments (WestCOG) will be developing a regional needs assessment that P&Z can use to develop the plan.
