The Monday, Feb. 10 meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission was largely dedicated to hearing public comments regarding the Toll Brothers’ proposal for a 5-story 208-unit pair of buildings at 15 Old Danbury Rd. The site sits adjacent to the Wilton Train Station and is visible from all directions at the Ridgefield Rd./Danbury Rd. intersection. It is part of the Transit-Oriented Development overlay area created by P&Z through the Greater Wilton Center Master Plan process, which allows greater density and height. At five stories high, it will also be among the tallest structures in town.
As with all development projects proposed in town, P&Z does not allow public comment in meetings until the final moments of an application’s review. This period comes after all presentations are complete, questions from the Commission members have been answered, and all final changes have been made to the application.
The Commission does allow written comment throughout the broader public hearing period, however, and Town Planner Michael Wrinn noted at the prior meeting on Jan. 27 that this project had elicited a “tremendous level of public engagement.” This week, he noted that a few additional letters had been submitted since then, but that, “It wasn’t a groundswell by any means.”
Seven letters were added to the file since the meeting on Jan. 27, though two of the letters came from members of the public who had previously written to the Commission on the topic. In the end, 70 letters were received by the town and posted in the application file, with a virtual dead heat between supporters and detractors: 34 supportive and 33 opposed, with two duplicates (both opposed). A final correspondent offered landscaping suggestions and did not express a position on the project itself.
However, one letter noticeably absent was an apparent memo of suggestions for improving the architecture of the site from Barbara Geddis, a local architect who is an active voice from the public on major developments in town. Geddis also served on the Greater Wilton Center Master Plan subcommittee and was the only participant who was not also serving on a town board at the time.
Speaking during the public comment period of the meeting, Geddis noted the absence of her letter on the website and said she would summarize her thoughts. She criticized clashes in style between the many roof types in the design, particularly the juxtaposition of a gable beside a shed roof. She noted that her letter offered suggestions to resolve her design concerns but that overall she was supportive of the project. As of publication, the letter has not yet appeared in the application file on the P&Z website.
In addition to Geddis, 10 members of the public spoke at the meeting. Seven people spoke in favor of the project and four opposed. The majority of the speakers on both sides were individuals who had previously submitted written comments.
Those speaking in favor of the project pointed often to the importance of walkability and their belief that the Toll Brothers’ project would bring vibrancy to downtown. Several people noted that the apartments could serve as housing for empty nesters, young couples, and others interested in living in Wilton without the commitment of a house.
The voices opposed to the project cited ongoing concerns about the project’s impacts on traffic, school capacity and town services. The total number of apartments already built or approved in town came up frequently, with some arguing that the town needed a more holistic approach to reviewing projects that come in.
After all members of the public had spoken, the Commission voted to close the public hearing and move to deliberation. Chair Rick Tomasetti responded to those calling for more holistic planning in his deliberation remarks. He said that at this time, P&Z was “less in the planning phase of what we do as a commission and more in the administerial role.”
“This isn’t about choosing winners or losers among different developments,” Tomasetti said. “The way zoning works is you have regulations to provide surety to property owners… we don’t just say, the person on Maple Street can do something but the person on Oak Street can’t. Good planning happens over a wider area and we let the market determine, do we have enough or not enough. We establish zoning laws and we don’t selectively favor or block developments.”
Tomasetti went on to point to the Plan of Conservation and Development and the Wilton Center master plan processes as the times when the Commission engaged more in its planning role, determining which areas of town could handle greater density. The new zoning overlays reflect the results of those planning processes.
At that point, he noted that a member of the public had raised a hand to speak in response. “As I believe everyone knows, we’ve made this clear, after the public hearing is closed, we do not take public comment. That’s for fairness to the applicant and the Commission and others. The public comment period is closed and everybody has had an opportunity to weigh in on this application.”
Looking Ahead
The Commission will likely vote to approve the project at the next meeting, scheduled for Monday, Feb. 27. In this latest incarnation of the proposal, Toll Brothers abandoned plans to seek a special permit or text amendment asking for permission to sidestep some of the new zoning created for the site just last year. This application that is headed to a vote now is effectively as-of-right, meaning it complies with the requirements of Wilton’s new zoning overlay. The application still needs the Commission’s approval to use that new zoning overlay, but no arguments have been made so far that give reason why it would not be eligible for it.
Furthermore, the project seems to have broad approval across the Commission. Commissioners Jill Warren, Ken Hoffman, Anthony Cenatiempo and Mark Ahasic all praised the Toll Brothers’ team for a thorough application that responded to their feedback. Other Commissioners expressed support as well. The only note of suggestion was a proposal by Cenatiempo that Toll Brothers review the letter from Geddis that was mistakenly not entered into the record. Several other Commissioners echoed that idea, though Tomasetti noted that the Commission cannot require Toll Brothers to do so as a condition of approval.
Why are we continuing to add high density apartments to Wilton? The traffic is bad enough these days (good luck dropping your kid off at one of the schools) and if we wanted to be around more people then we would’ve moved to Norwalk or Danbury! Leave Wilton alone – it’s perfect as it is!
It makes me sick! I guess Wilton is a unicorn because it seems that all these apartment buildings reports on traffic, children entering the schools, and environmental impact etc seem to have “no impact whatsoever and will be better than what is currently standing!” Toll brothers team actually said that the 208 unit 300 plus cars will have less traffic compared to the current building of employees with a max of 100 cars. Am I missing something? And they reported not as many children live in apartment buildings? What? Compared to what? 2018 did a study in south CT and reported the opposite. I feel as if these big developers reports remind me of the tobacco companies and Boeing. Really!! But P&Z seems to think since a “company” wrote a report it must be true. So basically apartment buildings carry no negative impact to its surroundings areas! At least not in Wilton!!! I wonder then why cities aren’t super rich and environmentally clean!
P&Z is such a joke. And that master plan and pocd is awful. Why would you ever suggest 5 stories in the center of a new English small town. That alone I would have fired the company for even suggesting that zone change. But I am even more outraged that P&Z voted that in. Our town would still be fine if they kept the max 3 story zoning!!
Toll brother property should have stayed business and an ice rink or a Chelsea piers like business would have been perfect!! Business like this would have brought revenue to the town, the density P&Z thinks Wilton is lacking, and would limit traffic, etc all the positive with little of the negative.
Destroy the charm and landscape of the town and call it “new housing”. More crowded more
$$$$$ for small living space and congestion. Less natural beauty more cement and pollution
Very sad to witness the destruction of Wilton as it was vs how it will become