WPCA Receives Three Applications for Residential Developments — All for Townhouses

Wilton’s Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) met Tuesday, Sept. 10, with an agenda focused on three new requests for sewer capacity for residential development projects.

In a shift from the multifamily apartment buildings seen in recent years, the latest applications could bring a new inventory of townhome-style formats, including condominiums, not just rentals.

No debate or decisions were made by the WPCA — the meeting merely served to officially receive the applications, which will now undergo further technical review by Department of Public Works Director Frank Smeriglio before returning to the WPCA for a more detailed review and deliberation.

But First, The Town-wide Numbers

Smeriglio was first up on the agenda with his regular monthly update on the town-wide sewer flows.

While actual flows are currently averaging about 471,000 gallons per day, Smeriglio also tracks theoretical flows from approved and pending sewer applications, as well as anticipated new applications. Including the very latest three applications, the combined calculation would put the total flow at roughly 644,000 gallons per day — a number inching ever closer to the 650,000 contractual limit under the Town’s agreement with Norwalk, which receives Wilton’s sewer flows for treatment.

First Selectman Toni Boucher, who chairs the WPCA, highlighted the significance of the figures.

“These numbers are very critical because we’re getting new applications,” she said. “We’re getting very close to capacity of what we are able to provide with sewage capacity for new developments.”

Partly for the benefit of the WPCA’s newest member, Rich McCarty, who replaced former Selectman Bas Nabulsi, Boucher also took the opportunity to remind the WPCA members of the agreed-upon priorities for the limited remaining capacity: expansion by existing Wilton-based businesses; the transit-oriented district near the Wilton train station; Wilton Center; and key portions of Danbury Rd.

New Applications

The WPCA heard from representatives of all three of the applicants seeking capacity for their proposed projects (additional details are posted with the meeting agenda). One is a project that town officials have known about for a few years; the other two are new proposals:

• 20 Old Ridgefield Rd. (M&M Construction): The applicant envisions five three-bedroom townhouses to replace a former medical office (currently M&M Construction offices) on the narrow, triangular site near the intersection of Ridgefield Rd. Preliminary estimated sewer flows would rise from 653 gallons per day to 2,250.
  
• 255 Danbury Rd. (TBS Partners LLC): The applicant is proposing to develop 12 three-bedroom townhouses on the site — which happens to be directly across the street from another potential redevelopment project at 254 Danbury Rd., the former Wilton Baptist church. Estimated sewer use would increase from 191 gallons per day to 2,292.
  
• 254 Danbury Rd. (William Earls): This proposal — which has already undergone pre-application reviews by Wilton’s Planning and Zoning Commission and the Architectural Review Board — would redevelop the former Baptist church with 10 units, ranging from three to five bedrooms each, with a total of 39 bedrooms. Estimated daily flows would increase from 148 gallons per day to 2,145.

Both Smeriglio and Boucher noted the WPCA’s focus must remain strictly on questions of sewer infrastructure and capacity — not on zoning matters or the merits of the applicants’ proposed uses, architecture or design.

“This committee’s purview is very limited, very restricted to sewer capacity — how much we have, and how much [an application] will take, and whether you’re in a priority zone that’s very important,” Boucher said.

She did, however, add a personal opinion, in the context of 20 Old Ridgefield Rd. application.

“Just as an aside, though, as a personal remark, it’s really very heartening to see townhouses [that] would be owner-occupied,” she said. “That’s a very positive step, as we’ve not had hardly any in the last couple of years, so this is a nice thing to see.”

Over the next few weeks, Smeriglio plans to review the technical details of the three applications, including the assumptions used for estimated their sewer flows. The WPCA is expected to consider the proposals at the next WPCA meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 8.