In recent months, Wilton’s Board of Selectmen (BOS) has been working toward the goal of amending the Town’s liquor ordinance to allow breweries. The BOS planned to bring a proposed amendment to voters at a Special Town Meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 9, but officials just recently decided to scrap those plans and postpone the vote until the Annual Town Meeting in May.

Sequence of Events

The BOS began discussing breweries in August after a local craft beer startup (Twelve Gods Brewery) approached Town officials with hopes of opening a brewery establishment in Wilton.  

Momentum for an ordinance change continued as First Selectman Toni Boucher took office in December, but the BOS had to re-group after the Dec. 6 BOS meeting, which was marked by significant confusion about the current ordinance. Since then, the process unfolded as follows:

  • Dec. 19: the BOS held a public hearing to finalize the language for the proposed amendment, and unanimously agreed to move the matter forward to voters. The Town Clerk’s office had already begun making preparations for a Special Town Meeting on Jan. 9.
  • Dec. 21: a legal notice was issued to announce the details of the Special Town Meeting, including the Jan. 9 date, time, location and key procedural details.
  • Dec. 22: Boucher discussed the matter in her December update to residents, explaining the purpose of the ordinance change and encouraging voters to attend the Jan. 9 vote. She noted that at least 50 voters needed to be present to pass the amendment.
  • Dec. 28: the Special Town Meeting was canceled.

Boucher issued a public statement canceling the meeting with the following explanation: “To encourage public participation and satisfy the requirement that 50 members attend the Special Town Meeting to approve breweries in the Town of Wilton on January 9, 2024, it is anticipated that the Board of Selectmen will move the vote to the Annual Town Meeting in May.”

Decision to Postpone

GOOD Morning Wilton reached out to Boucher with questions about what led to the sudden change in plans. Boucher responded by email, emphasizing the uncertainty about achieving a quorum of voters on Jan. 9.

“If less than 50 electors attend [a Special Town Meeting] on January 9, we would have to start the process all over again. The Annual Town Meeting date would be more certain as it usually has at least 100 in attendance,” Boucher wrote.  

In addition to the concern the minimum voter threshold would not be reached, Boucher also cited a concern about state permitting for local businesses. (All breweries must first obtain a permit from the state to manufacture beer.)

“We also need to make sure that if we pass this ordinance in Wilton, the businesses would be eligible for any state licenses needed,” Boucher explained. “In an effort to help, legal counsel is researching any issues with the state so that our local businesses do not run into obstacles down the road. The rules are complicated because Wilton is only one of three towns in the state that are ‘dry’ versus ‘wet’.”

Twelve Gods Responds

The owners of Twelve Gods Brewery were disappointed with the change in plans.

Though incorporated as an LLC, Twelve Gods is not yet a commercial operation. Without the local ordinance change — and subsequent zoning regulations that will be needed — the company remains in limbo, unable to obtain the necessary state permit or legally sell the beer it produces.  

GMW reached out to Sakis Panolis, a co-owner of the fledgling brewery, for comment. He responded with a statement issued on behalf of the company, calling the decision to postpone the vote “an unfortunate and unforeseen delay.”

“We have worked hard to get a date on the calendar… to get the word out and speak to as many people about this change, and the support was fantastic. We have been planning our expansion since we started seeing the town’s support,” Panolis wrote.

He reported working with investors, architects, vendors and real estate agents, with a target brewery opening in the spring of 2025.

“Toni has been a pleasure to work with on this matter,” Panolis continued. “We certainly understand the concern about ensuring that the required number of people show up. On the other hand, we believe strongly that we could very well achieve those numbers and even exceed them. We have a major network of local friends and local beer enthusiasts that would show up in order to help us build a brewery in town.”

Though disappointed with the delay, Panolis remains confident the ordinance will ultimately be approved by voters in May and doesn’t seem deterred.

“We feel like at this point we have the town’s support [but] there will be four months of downtime. We will use that time properly — working on developing and improving our business plan, develop[ing] new recipes, planning of event[s], etc. We are not worried — the town will support us at the right time,” he wrote.