Additional reporting by Megan Baron.
A proposal to extend a sanitary sewer line from Danbury Rd. to 19 Cannon Rd. and make way for a 70-unit affordable housing development in Cannondale has gotten shuffled around in the scheduling for when it will be heard by the Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z). Town officials have now given it a new date to be heard — Monday, Oct. 17.
As GOOD Morning Wilton reported earlier this week, the proposal had been referred to P&Z by the Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA), which is chaired by First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice. Originally on the agenda to be heard on Tuesday, Oct. 11, Vanderslice withdrew the referral just before town offices closed for the long Columbus/Indigenous Peoples Day weekend break. Officials said the proposal would “likely” reappear for the Monday, Oct. 24 P&Z meeting. But now, Vanderslice resubmitted the referral and the proposal is set to be heard by P&Z at a special meeting scheduled on Monday, Oct. 17.
The Oct. 17 date is somewhat of a lucky coincidence. The Planning & Zoning Department wound up canceling the Oct. 11 meeting after there were issues with posting the meeting agenda to the town website within the required public notice time of 24 hours prior to a meeting. That provided an opportunity to move the WPCA discussion up at least a little earlier.
Vanderslice told GMW that the withdrawal and resubmission of the 8-24 referral were done because of “an issue with the timeline.” The WPCA has 65 days to render a decision, and P&Z has 35 days to respond to the referral. Vanderslice made the initial referral to P&Z in mid-September but scheduling conflicts on the part of the plaintiff’s attorney pushed scheduling out to October. Withdrawing and resubmitting the referral essentially restarted P&Z’s 35-day deadline.
The proposal has generated interest from people following how Wilton has actively begun to address questions around affordable housing, master planning, economic development and increasing the commercial grand list.
It’s a proposal that also has begun to attract more attention from residents who are opposed to any development they say would be out of scale and detrimental to the location and surrounding area. Planning and Zoning has received about a dozen letters from people against the sewer proposal, many of them neighbors around Cannondale Village.
Six months ago, the same project by Baywing, LLC, was before P&Z and seemed headed for a likely rejection when the application was withdrawn. It was resubmitted carrying with it a heavy hitter in the world of 8-30g, Connecticut’s affordable housing law. Timothy Hollister of Hinckley Allen & Snyder, LLP is now serving as lead attorney on the project. A staunch defender of 8-30g projects, Hollister helped draft the original 1990 legislation and is a veteran of some of Connecticut’s most contentious battles over affordable housing, including the recent fight over 751 Weed St. in New Canaan.
While not explicitly referenced in the application, details of the project suggest that the developer intends to invoke the 8-30g statute, which effectively allows developers to sidestep local zoning if a project includes affordable housing units in a town like Wilton where less than 10% of available housing options are considered affordable.
The current application is not a proposal for the broader residential development Baywing hopes to build on the site. This application covers only the extension of sewer services needed “to facilitate a proposed multi-family residential development, consisting of 70 units.” It falls into the category of an 8-24 referral, a Connecticut statute that requires an opinion from the local planning and zoning commission for certain municipal improvement projects, such as the extension of sanitary sewers.
For more detailed coverage in advance of P&Z’s discussion on Monday, Oct. 17, read our earlier coverage.
October 14, 2022
Planning and Zoning Commission Town Hall Annex
238 Danbury Road
Wilton, CT 06897
Re: MR#154, (not #153, the previous application number) 8-24 Referral – Wilton Water Pollution Control Authority/Baywing LLC – Sanitary sewer line extension – 19 Cannon Rd to Danbury Rd
Regarding the proposal under consideration to extend the sanitary sewer line from Danbury Road to 19 Cannon Road, we strongly object to the approval for the following reasons:
Dear Commission Members:
We are opposed to the MR#154 proposed development in R-2A zoning, for a variety of reasons including the irreversible environmental impact of the density of the population on the wetlands, flood zones on site (please post attached GIS map), adjoining aquifer, the traffic congestion on narrow roads; and the importance of preserving one of Wilton’s few remaining historic neighborhoods.
We feel very fortunate to be a part of the Wilton community, and in a small part preserve one of the most architecturally significant historic homes in Wilton with the ionic portico and doric columns in the Cannondale National Register Historic District. As property owners of the 1835 2.5 story, gable- roofed, clapboard Greek Revival house (also known as the Mary Cannon Jones House) in the historic neighborhood of Cannondale, we have preserved an important part of the town’s legacy of the Cannon-Miller family. We also recently purchased an adjoining property in an effort to keep this unique green space along Route 7.
In an effort to recently rent just one pre-existing home, next door to the proposed development, we lost potential tenants due to the rigorous demands of meeting traffic flow studies and restrictions of the wetlands. We hope that any development in question considers the impact on the wetlands, adjoining aquifer and flood zones.
As stated, we are opposed to the proposed 70-unit development property on approximately 2-acres, and agree with fellow Cannondale neighbors’ concerns:
1. Safety
Since the expansion of Danbury Road, the traffic volume has increased exponentially. Cannon Road has become a bypass from Danbury Road to and from Routes 57, 33, 106 and 53. Driving is dangerous due to the increased traffic volume over the past several years; it is no longer possible to walk safely on Cannon Road, as was the case in the past, and even entering Cannon Road from your driveway is perilous.
2. Traffic
The construction of a 70-unit apartment building will add hundreds of autos and service vehicles and will only make the existing situation far worse. The addition of this many vehicles to a road that is narrow, winding with blind curves is both dangerous and detrimental to the quality of life for Cannondale residents. Consider also a situation when the road is blocked by a passing train and traffic is backed up to Danbury Road. How accessible will Cannon Road be to emergency vehicles during peak traffic hours when a train is at the station?
3. Environment
Cannon Road already suffers from air pollution from Danbury Road and Metro North diesel engines. The addition of hundreds of cars and service vehicles will further deteriorate the air quality in Cannondale. In addition to air pollution, there are serious concerns about nearby wetlands and the Aquarion aquifer, not to mention the Norwalk River. The prudence of bringing a sewer line in close proximity to this environmentally sensitive area is questionable.
4. Plan of Conservation & Development
A development of this size dismisses the town’s Plan of Conservation & Development at many levels. If this development were to be built, it would be tantamount to tearing up the Plan of Conservation & Development. A thoughtful plan to develop 19 Cannon Road that is scaled to the neighboring buildings and density would enhance rather than detract from the rural and historic nature of Cannondale emphasized in the Plan of Conservation & Development. We urge the Commission to support the Plan of Conservation & Development and sound planning for Cannondale by voting against the proposed sewer extension.
Sincerely,
Dr. James & Mrs. Pamela Aris
436 Danbury Road, Wilton, CT