“Trying Not to Be an ‘Amen Chorus’ for Hines”: SSND Project Supporters Vow to Hold Developer to Its Promises

Wilton residents who support the proposed redevelopment of the former School Sisters of Notre Dame property at 329-331-345 Belden Hill Rd. into a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) do so for a variety of reasons — some favor more development, others want to see less and still others are motivated by fond memories of the School Sisters.

What they share, according to neighbor David Rintoul, is a belief that the proposed senior living community is the best available option for the neighborhood and for Wilton as a whole.

Rintoul is the founder of Support the Sisters (STS), an organizing effort by Wilton residents who support the proposal from developer Hines SL Wilton Associates LP to redevelop the 38-acre property into a senior living community with 280 independent living, assisted living and memory care residential units.

“The purpose of the group is to give those people on [its mailing] list the information they need to go out in the community and talk about why the School Sisters project is a good idea,” Rintoul told GOOD Morning Wilton during a recent interview. “I consider part of what Support the Sisters [does] is to, within the context of supporting the project, advocate for things that would make it a better project for the neighborhood and the town, sort of a watchdog of the project. We’re really trying not to be [an] ‘amen chorus’ for Hines and the School Sisters.”

That watchdog approach will likely play an increasing role as Wilton’s Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) begins reviewing Hines’ application. Public hearings are expected to begin after the commission returns from its summer break in mid-September.

Those hearings are likely to draw intense public interest and participation. The Wilton Neighbors Alliance, an organized effort opposing the proposal, has been mobilizing residents and raising concerns about its potential effects on traffic, infrastructure, emergency services and the surrounding neighborhood.

The project is also being challenged in two separate lawsuits in Connecticut Superior Court. A neighbor is appealing the Inland Wetlands Commission permit granted in June, while the nonprofit trust that owns the property has appealed the Town’s property valuation and its decision to revoke the tax-exempt status of two of the property’s three parcels.

Drawbacks Make Other Uses Infeasible, STS Argues

Critics of the Hines proposal say that it would increase traffic along the neighborhood’s narrow streets. STS argues that the increase in vehicles would be less than what a large apartment complex might generate — and Rintoul believes that is exactly what could end up being built there if the town rejects the Hines proposal.

Because less than 10% of Wilton’s housing stock meets the state’s affordability criteria, any developer could seek approval to build multifamily housing under Connecticut’s 8-30g affordable housing statute by designating at least 30% of its units as affordable. This limits a municipality’s ability to deny qualifying affordable housing applications, and while any proposal would still be subject to review and site-specific health and safety considerations, 8-30g would allow a developer to bypass much of the town’s zoning regulations for height and density — even i an neighborhood with two-acre zoning like the one on Belden Hill Rd.

Rintoul argues that such a development could be taller, closer to the road and more disruptive to the neighborhood than the Hines proposal.

Resident Hillary Springel, a neighbor who often encountered sisters who lived at SSND out for a walk along Highfield Ln. during her own daily walks, shares Rintoul’s concern.

“I have seen how large swaths of our neighboring towns have been replaced by four- and five-story apartment buildings and I do not want that for our quiet residential road,” Springel wrote to GMW. “If residents are concerned about increased traffic with the proposed senior living community, imagine 150 apartments (or more) with two cars each — leaving and returning at rush hour each day.”

As of now, no alternative development proposal for the property has been submitted to P&Z, and the size, design and traffic impact of any potential 8-30g development are unknown.

Springel says she understands the arguments of both supporters and opponents and thinks they have valid points to make. Ultimately, however, she believes the property owner cannot be expected to wait indefinitely for an alternative acceptable to everyone.

“It’s unrealistic to think a better offer will come along when it hasn’t for the past 4-5 years, nor will the Church leave the property vacant but maintained just to appease those of us who live nearby,” Springel wrote. “We cannot require them to wait for a better offer that residents can all agree on.”

Rintoul argues that the Hines proposal would preserve the neighborhood’s rural character through three elements of its current plans: a strict three-story height limit, building setbacks of at least 150 feet from Belden Hill Rd., and underground parking.

He said his support is conditional on the developer maintaining those three commitments as the proposal moves through P&Z’s review.

“I guess I could say that [each of these] hasn’t really been tested yet, and that’s what’s going to happen probably during the public hearing with P&Z,” Rintoul said.

SSND Says Hines Proposal Honors Order’s Legacy in Wilton

Support for the Hines proposal also comes from the School Sisters of Notre Dame‘s Atlantic-Midwest Province, which owns the property known as Villa Notre Dame.

“When looking for a buyer for Villa Notre Dame, we looked for a partner who would understand and continue our stewardship of the land and the Wilton community,” Sister Nancy Gilchriest, Provincial Leader of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, Atlantic-Midwest Province, told GMW in a written interview. “A thorough and thoughtful review of our options gave us confidence that Hines is that partner.”

Gilchriest cited Hines’ “reputation for high standards, attention to design and construction, and commitment to preserving the communities they invest in” as reasons for selecting the developer. She also pointed to Hines’ plans to preserve the property’s architecturally distinctive chapel and restore the wetlands at the rear of the property.

“We believe [a continuing care retirement community] honors the legacy we want to leave behind by transforming our former home into a vibrant new community for older adults,” Gilchriest wrote. “It is an honor to be part of creating a space that will continue to foster connections and provide an environment where seniors are cared for with the skill and compassion that allow them to age with dignity.”

Gilchriest wrote that SSND understands the concerns some neighbors have about the proposed redevelopment but said the organization has “made every effort to address issues that have been raised, when possible.”

She noted that, because of the sharply declining number of sisters due to age and fewer women seeking a religious vocation, SSND no longer has the “capacity” to maintain large properties and must sell them in order to continue caring for elderly sisters and supporting its ministries.

SSND Atlantic-Midwest Province is also completing the sale of its only other remaining property, in Baltimore, MD, which is expected to also be redeveloped into a CCRC.

Gilchriest did not respond to GMW’s question about what alternatives SSND might consider if the Hines proposal does not receive the Town approvals it needs to proceed.

Opponents Raise Concerns About Effects of Zoning Changes

Rintoul was motivated to create STS after seeing lawn signs printed by the Wilton Neighbors Alliance (WNA) opposing the Hines proposal on neighbors’ lawns. The WNA has raised concerns about the proposed development’s potential to increase traffic and accidents, further strain the Town’s limited sewage treatment capacity, and increase emergency service response times, among other issues.

“We agree with bringing more senior housing to Wilton, but the local elected commissioners shouldn’t change our laws just to allow an out-of-state corporation develop this massive commercial housing complex in a residential area when there are already areas of town designated and designed to handle the impacts of this type of institutional facility,” WNA spokesperson Alissa Brady told GMW in an interview.

Although Hines has emphasized in its public presentations that the proposed senior living community would help address the need for more senior housing identified in Wilton’s Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD), Brady argues that the proposal conflicts with other POCD goals, including preserving natural and historic resources and protecting established rural and lower-density neighborhoods.

According to Brady, WNA supports other forms of residential development on the property as long as they do not require changes to the neighborhood’s R-2A zoning, strain the Town’s emergency services, add to traffic congestion or endanger the Norwalk River watershed.

Beyond the impact of the proposed senior living community on the surrounding neighborhood, Brady said WNA is also concerned about the precedent of approving the zoning changes sought by Hines and what it could mean for other Wilton neighborhoods.

“We think it sets a precedent that makes it much harder to say no to the next developer, opening the door to more large-scale building in residential neighborhoods that don’t have the roads, the emergency services or the infrastructure to handle it,” Brady said.

“Maybe Our Nightmares Are the Same”

Although the two community efforts are on opposite sides of the Hines proposal, they do share some of the same concerns about the property’s future.

“I think we are in agreement that all of us would rather not have a five-story, 240-unit multifamily development 50 feet or less away from Belden Hill Rd.,” Rintoul said. “Maybe our nightmares are the same.”

The problem, as Rintoul sees it, is that if the town does not approve the proposed senior living community, there may not be a way to stop such a development.

“What’s going to happen if this is turned down?” he said.

Brady says that fear of what could be built there instead is not enough reason to automatically support the Hines proposal, but WNA does agree with STS that Wilton needs more senior housing and that the former SSND property is likely to be redeveloped in some form.

“Fundamentally, where we agree is that something should be built there,” Brady said. “And that’s where we’ll put our effort.”

Rintoul told GMW that he anticipates Support the Sisters will begin ramping up its efforts to rally public support in September, once the P&Z public hearings get underway.

“I just want to make sure the Town’s elected officials and residents know there is a group of residents that does Support the Sisters,” Rintoul wrote. “And, I want the members of this group, no matter how small, to have the information they need to Support the Sisters in their day-to-day discussions with their family and friends. We may never be a majority, but I hope we can be an effective minority.”