One of the biggest apartment complexes ever proposed in Wilton — the Toll Brothers’ proposal for a 5-story 208-unit pair of buildings at 15 Old Danbury Rd. — began its formal application on Monday, Jan. 27 with a presentation to the Planning and Zoning Commission. This marked the start of the project’s public review period, but it comes after more than a year of dialogue between the developer, Toll Brothers, and town staff, boards, and commissions.
The meeting began with Town Planner Michael Wrinn noting that the Commission had received “a tremendous amount of public input.” As of publication, 63 letters had been posted with the application materials; 33 in favor of the project and 29 opposed. Those in favor referenced the need to build more housing in town and the downstream economic activity generated by bringing more residents to the Wilton Center area. Those opposed mainly objected to the height and bulk of the project, especially in light of other large multifamily projects already approved and underway elsewhere in town. One letter did not weigh in on the merits of the project broadly but rather offered a suggestion about landscaping.
The stakes of the project have been set high from the outset. “This is a key location,” the Architecture Review Board‘s then-Vice Chair Samuel Gardner said during a pre-application meeting in May 2024. “It’s a really important gateway building that will in some ways define Wilton for a lot of people. It will symbolize Wilton.”
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.
“This is probably the most dense [project] you’re going to see in town,” Wrinn told the Commission in September. “It’s a TOD area, and if you’re going to have a high-density development, this is the place to do it.”
Throughout earlier discussions, the applicant’s representatives had repeatedly inquired about the town’s willingness to grant special permits for the project, essentially asking to tweak the new zoning overlay that had been designed specifically for this site only months earlier. In the formal application, however, no special permits were included. In the discussion on Monday, details were scarce about what became of the project’s desired zoning tweaks, which related to parking allotments, setback requirements, and height limits, and how the project may have been updated to eliminate the need for them.
At the start of their presentation, the Toll Brothers’ team presented the latest design iteration of the project. The project has gone through a series of revamps as part of the pre-application process. The original October 2023 design featured red brick townhouses with stoops. This evolved into the second design, presented in March 2024: a pair of steel and glass structures that came out as wings from a central amenity space. The architecture of the connecting area was meant to recall the shape and style of a train station hall, a nod to the site’s transit-oriented location. The overall design was meant to evoke a mill, a concept that initially won praise from P&Z and ARB but was later criticized for being monotonous and flat at the roofline.
In September 2024, the team returned to P&Z with a third design meant to enliven the façade with a series of different design elements such as dormers, mansard roofs, rooftop towers, and different building materials. This design was generally well received by all commissioners except Commissioner Mark Ahasic, who said he found it “a little too busy and a little too cute.”
After another round of dialogue at ARB, Toll Brothers has now submitted a fourth design, which incorporates yet more design elements such as recessed floors, balconies, and gable roofs. It appears to feature at least 10 different window forms, six roof shapes, and five façade materials. This final design was presented Monday evening and is the one that is now under consideration by P&Z.
Together, the representatives for the project outlined additional details related to the current proposal:
- Landscape Architect Eric Rains explained the planting plan for the new site. ARB had asked for a larger percentage of the plantings to be native species and for the tree types to be varied in anticipation of future species-specific diseases.
- Engineer Craig Flaherty responded to comments about the number of school seats that could be needed to serve an additional 208 households in town. He noted that the Board of Education’s analysis shows that Wilton is nearly 700 students below its peak school population. He also explained new stormwater drainage capabilities that are currently being reviewed by the Department of Public Works.
- Transportation Planner Niel Olinski explained a traffic study that found that the 208-unit residential complex would generate less traffic than the office use currently approved on the site.
The commissioners then opened their question period with the Toll Brothers’ team. Most commissioners passed on the opportunity to ask further questions, having spoken with the team about the project several times in the past 15 months.
Commissioner Eric Fanwick said he wanted to commend the applicant for including 10% affordable housing. However, unlike in Wilton Center proper (where the affordable housing requirement was originally omitted from the new zoning overlay), the TOD overlay and both Ridgefield Rd. overlays require 10% affordability. Toll Brothers is incorporating 10% affordable housing into the project because it is a requirement of the TOD overlay zoning that the town passed in October 2023.
Commissioner Ken Hoffman asked the applicant team to confirm that no one serving on the Commission, in elected office, or employed by the Town of Wilton was being compensated in exchange for supporting the project. Attorney Lisa Feinberg and Toll Brothers’ Director of Development David Sands did so.
Ahasic requested an additional rendering at the next meeting showing the building from the perspective of Merwin Meadows.
Looking Ahead
The meeting concluded without having reached the public comment stage of the public hearing. According to the procedures of Wilton’s P&Z, the initial phases of a public hearing process are dedicated to a presentation by the developer and questions from the Commission. Once the presentation and questions are complete, the Commission would then invite public comments via zoom. This may take place at the next meeting of P&Z, which is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 10.
Elsewhere during the meeting, Wrinn noted that the Board of Finance has requested a 10-year plan of capital budget projects from P&Z, which Wrinn said would be difficult to produce. However, he noted that laying out roughly seven years of capital projects — which would include master plans for Cannondale, Georgetown and South Wilton, as well as the 2029 Plan of Conservation and Development — would be more feasible. He also shared with the Commission the news that the Ridgefield Planning and Zoning Commission has announced a temporary moratorium on new development.