Key Points
- Nearly 300 people joined the meeting expecting the School Sisters public hearing to begin.
- The developer requested a two-week delay after the P&Z chair decided to hear zoning changes separately from the construction plan.
- Town staff are reviewing a protest petition that could raise the vote required to approve the zoning changes.
Why it matters: The postponed hearings will give residents their first opportunity to address P&Z on the proposal, while the petition could change what it takes to approve the requested zoning rules.
After spending the past several months mobilizing for the highly anticipated showdown over the proposed redevelopment of the former School Sisters of Notre Dame property (329, 331 and 345 Belden Hill Rd.), supporters and opponents logged in to Monday night’s Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) Zoom meeting ready to speak their minds — only to watch P&Z unexpectedly vote to postpone the public hearing for two more weeks.
Nearly 300 people logged in to the Monday, Sept. 28 meeting. Town Counsel Ira Bloom opened by announcing that P&Z Chair Ken Hoffman had decided to split P&Z’s review of the application by developer Hines SL Wilton Associates LP into two separate public hearings. The first will focus on Hines’ request to approve significant changes to the town’s zoning code required to accommodate the proposed continuing care retirement community (CCRC), and the second will focus on Hines’ proposed construction plan for new buildings to be built on the site.
In response to the decision to split the hearings, attorney Lisa Feinberg, representing both Hines and the School Sisters, told the commissioners that the developer wanted to postpone the hearing until the next P&Z meeting.
“Based on the decision that you made just now, and information received only today, the applicant has decided that they would like to continue both the regulation change and the site plan and special permit to your next regularly scheduled meeting on Oct. 13 at 7 p.m.,” Feinberg said. “We have been proceeding since April of 2025 under the understanding that we were to submit a site plan and special permit application at the same time as the text change.”
P&Z frequently consolidates applicants’ proposed changes to the zoning regulations and their construction plans into a single public hearing. However, Hoffman explained that he believed Hines’ proposed zoning text amendment was “unique enough in my experience on Planning and Zoning that it should be dealt with first.”
Feinberg urged Hoffman to reconsider, arguing that the site plan is “absolutely inextricably intertwined” with the proposed changes to the zoning regulation. “Looking at the words without understanding the site plan, or considering a new use in the zone without considering traffic implications or drainage implications or landscaping buffers just, I believe, is fundamentally unfair.”
Hoffman responded that he appreciated that the zoning changes and site plan were intertwined but argued that the former was “in and of itself fundamental and different than what many of the things that this commission have considered in the past, certainly in my tenure on this commission,” and therefore merited a separate hearing.
P&Z Secretary Michelle Saglimbene was the sole dissenting vote on the commission’s decision to postpone the public hearing until the Oct. 13 meeting. Due to the Columbus Day holiday, that meeting will take place on a Tuesday rather than the usual Monday.
GOOD Morning Wilton reached out to Feinberg to learn when the notification of the intent to split the hearings was received, who sent it, and whether Hines and/or Feinberg had an opportunity to respond to the notification prior to the meeting. GMW did not receive a response by press time, but will update the story if one is received.
Intervenor Status Granted; Protest Petition Under Review
During the meeting, Hoffman also announced that the commission had received two requests that could directly affect how the hearings would proceed and how a final decision is reached.
First, Wilton resident Kari Roberts has been granted intervenor status in the application review. Roberts, whose property abuts the School Sisters parcel, had previously been an intervenor in Hines’ application for a wetlands permit before the Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) and is currently challenging the IWC’s decision to grant the permit in Connecticut Superior Court.
Hoffman said that, as an intervenor, Roberts — through her attorney Perley Grimes — will be “allocated a significant time period” to present expert witness testimony and ask questions of the applicant. In turn, the commissioners will be able to question Perley and his experts.
Editor’s note: Roberts is a member of Wilton’s Board of Finance. She is participating in this proceeding as a private property owner whose property directly abuts the SSND parcels.
Second, P&Z received a “protest petition” seeking to require a supermajority vote on the proposed zoning regulation changes. Under Connecticut law, such a petition must be signed by owners of at least 20% of the land area affected by the proposed text change or of the land within 500 feet of the boundary of the affected property. If the petition is valid, at least two-thirds of the commissioners would have to vote to approve the zoning changes for them to pass, rather than a simple majority.
Director of Planning and Land Use Management Michael Wrinn said that he and his staff are in the process of verifying the names and addresses on that second petition.
“Tremendous Amount of Communications Received“
Wrinn noted that the Planning and Zoning Department has received a “tremendous amount of communications” from the public on the Hines application — so much so that separate folders have been set up on the P&Z website for the letters and emails.
As of shortly before the Sept. 28 meeting, over 115 comments had been posted to the P&Z website — around 80 comments in response to the proposed zoning regulation changes and nearly 40 comments related to the special permit application for construction. An overwhelming majority — approximately 95% — urged P&Z to deny the application.
Residents writing in opposition to the proposed construction of a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) with 280 residential independent living, assisted living and memory care units on the 38-acre parcel cited concerns about the proposed building density, safety risks from increased traffic, and conflict with the Wilton Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD), among other issues.
Writing on behalf of the Wilton Neighbors Alliance (WNA), resident Nicki LaMonica also highlighted concerns over Hines’ proposal to use a new “weighted building height” calculation for measuring the height of the buildings, which Hines argues is necessary due to “dramatic grade changes” on the property. While the weighted building height in Hines’ application is 42 feet, WNA argues that two-thirds of the roof sections of the proposed apartment/office wing are actually taller than that.
Comments in support of the Hines application cite Wilton’s need for more housing alternatives and argue that a CCRC would allow retired residents to continue living in town. Supporters also point out that the facility would provide property tax revenue, unlike the tax-exempt School Sisters.
Wilton resident Robert Sanders also noted the “basic truth” that the property is a prime candidate for multifamily housing under Connecticut’s 8-30g affordable housing statute. Invoking 8-30g would allow a developer to essentially bypass many of the town’s zoning regulations for height and density — a particular concern for the residential neighborhood on Belden Hill Rd.
Wilton’s Historic District & Historical Property Commission (HDHPC) urged P&Z to “carefully consider Wilton’s historic preservation priorities” when reviewing the Hines application. HDHPC praised the plan to preserve the architecturally distinctive chapel and its unique stained glass windows, but encouraged P&Z to insist on preserving the historic Vollmer House, which Hines is proposing to demolish.
“Wilton’s historically significant assets are irreplaceable. They embody our town’s identity, contribute to our cultural landscape, and connect current and future residents to our shared past,” HDHPC Chair Lori Fusco wrote. “As redevelopment opportunities arise, the POCD calls for a balanced approach that supports growth while safeguarding this heritage.”
Wrinn said that additional comments had been received earlier in the day prior to the P&Z meeting, and his staff would continue uploading those and other comments received to the P&Z website as they come in.
Hoffman Asks Residents to Submit Comments Well in Advance
During the Sept. 28 meeting, Feinberg asked P&Z to set deadlines for submissions in advance of future meetings, to ensure that all parties had sufficient time to review them.
“It’s just unfair to receive substantive information on the day of the hearing, particularly when an application has been pending for two and a half months and counsel has long been engaged,” Feinberg said.
Bloom said that while Hoffman could not impose deadlines as a rule, he could ask people to submit things far enough in advance to accommodate. If late submissions become a problem later in the hearing process, Bloom said, then Hoffman might have “a little more leeway” to set and enforce stricter limits.
Hoffman asked that, for the next meeting, all supporting documentation to be considered be submitted by close of business Oct. 7.
Hoffman said that the order of business for the proposed changes to the zoning regulations will be as follows:
- Feinberg will present Hines’ application
- P&Z commissioners will ask questions about the application
- The intervenor will have the opportunity to make a presentation and bring in expert witnesses
- P&Z commissioners will ask questions about the intervenor’s presentation
- The hearing will be opened to public comment
- The commissioners will deliberate and vote on the proposed zoning regulation changes
- If the vote is favorable, P&Z will then proceed to a public hearing on Hines’ application for a special permit to undertake construction on the site
Hoffman said that, because a large number of people are expected to offer comments, time limits will be enforced but added that “we will be generous and allow people to make their points.” Even so, he cautioned that public testimony will likely stretch to at least two meetings.
“I don’t know if other people in this commission can do this, but a meeting that lasts 36 hours is probably not in the cards for this commission,” Hoffman said.
Prior to adjourning the meeting, both Hoffman and commissioner Trevor Huffard thanked the public who attended the meeting via Zoom.
“I just would like to note that it’s great to see that the town has shown up tonight,” Huffard said. “I wanted to thank the participants that have signed up, [and] committed to spending a lot of time with us, hopefully, and see you next meeting.”
“Thank you very much for showing up tonight, we appreciate it,” concurred Hoffman. “I appreciate the interest of the people in town.”
