Will Sewer Capacity Limits Slow The Pace of New Development in Wilton?

Wilton’s Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) held a special meeting on Monday, Oct. 30 to develop a new policy for allocating sanitary sewer capacity for new applications as the Town nears its contractual sewer flow limit.

The WPCA’s work has taken on more urgency over the course of recent meetings, as new information about the Town’s sanitary sewer infrastructure has emerged, along with the realization that demand for sewer capacity from new development will almost certainly exceed availability in the not-too-distant future.

The issue of capacity will be a major challenge in both the short- and long-term management of Wilton’s sewer infrastructure — and an integral part of any discussion about future commercial development in Wilton.

Sewer Capacity Background

First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice, who also chairs the WPCA, summarized key background points in a brief presentation at the Oct. 11 WPCA meeting:

• Current sewer flow from Wilton is averaging 520,000-530,000 gallons per day. That’s just under 81% of the 650,000-gallon limit in Wilton’s contractual agreement with Norwalk, whose treatment facility receives the flow.

• Under the agreement, when actual sewer flow reaches 90% of the contractual limit, the parties begin more serious discussions. Soon after Wilton hit the 90% threshold in 2018, Wilton DPW Director/Town Engineer Frank Smeriglio began such discussions with Norwalk officials, including providing them with all applications for comment.

• In Oct. 2022, the Town issued an RFQ for an inflow and infiltration study (I&I) to identify “inappropriate” flow, such as from stormwater entering the sanitary system through defective manhole covers or improper connections. If rectified, additional capacity would become available.

Vanderslice also presented a list of potential new developments that have already received a sewer allocation. With the exception of 200 Danbury Rd. (a relatively low allocation), none of the developments are contributing to actual sewer flow yet, as they have not been built — but in theory, they would push the limit of Wilton’s available capacity.

WPCA Response

After reviewing the key findings from the I&I study at its Sept. 13 meeting, the WPCA has been approaching the limited capacity on a number of fronts.

• Next steps on the I&I study: the WPCA sought to move quickly on the recommendations from the I&I study. Expressing a desire to be “aggressive,” the Board of Selectmen authorized three phases of work to identify the specific causes of inflow and infiltration into the system which, when rectified, would yield additional capacity. (According to information received by GMW, several businesses have already received notifications that “smoke testing” could begin as early as this week.) The cost for all three phases of work will be $346,100, not including rehabilitation work.

• Possible new regulations: the WPCA is exploring changes in regulations for both residential and commercial property owners that would aim to further reduce excess flow. Specifically, the regulation changes — which could impose penalty fines — would require residents to disconnect any stormwater drains or sump pumps that lead into the Town’s sanitary sewer system; and would require commercial property owners to hire an engineering firm to conduct their own inflow and infiltration studies, take corrective action, and report results to the Town. The WPCA is expected to deliberate on draft regulation language at its upcoming meeting on Nov. 8. At least one member of the WPCA, Selectman Bas Nabulsi, expressed strong reservations, notably about the potential burden on commercial property owners.

• Allocation methodology: the WPCA agreed to review its formula for calculating sewer use, which is based on “theoretical” standards from the CT Department of Health. Vanderslice believes the state’s methodology overstates what allocation is required, and future allocations should be “more realistic.” The methodology will be discussed at the Nov. 8 WPCA meeting.

While the above steps are aimed at reducing current flow or freeing up already-allocated capacity, the WPCA took an additional step at its Oct. 30 meeting to manage future allocations more judiciously.

“While we wait for the results of these proactive steps [outlined above], we will continue to receive applications for allocation of capacity,” Vanderslice said in her presentation. “Applications will need to be considered in light of current remaining sewer capacity, not current plus what might become available based on our proactive steps.”

She went on to recommend a new WPCA policy which would “prioritize” remaining sewer capacity in the transit-oriented district (TOD) surrounding the Wilton train station, followed by Wilton Center and Danbury Rd.

According to the policy, which members of the WPCA voted unanimously to approve,

On October 11, 2023, the [WPCA] reviewed data that established that potential future commercial development (that is development that has either been approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission or has been allocated capacity by the WPCA or is in pre-application discussions with Land Use Boards), will result in sewerage gallonage that will exceed the maximum daily flow permitted under the agreement between the Town of Wilton and the City of Norwalk. 

In light of such increased flow and the limits on available capacity, it is necessary to adopt a priority schedule for the allocation of capacity. This policy will affect all potential development that, as of October 11, 2023, has not been allocated capacity by the WPCA. The WPCA reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to allocate capacity for any potential development, but shall be guided by” the priority order above, with areas defined based on the most recent zoning maps approved by P&Z on Oct. 23.

Proactive?

At the two October WPCA meetings, Vanderslice emphasized that the WPCA’s action has been “proactive” in dealing with the sewer capacity issue.

GMW reached out to Vanderslice, asking her to address the timeline in the roughly four years between 2018, when Wilton first hit the 90% capacity threshold, and October 2022, when the RFQ went out for the I&I study.

Vanderslice offered greater context, going back to 2014, when the last I&I study was done. At that time, Vanderslice said, the cost of sewer system improvements were judged to outweigh the benefit, at a time when little development was on the horizon and other municipal priorities, particularly roadwork, were at the forefront.

“And then the pandemic happened,” Vanderslice said. “The pandemic fueled a lot of this growth that we’re seeing right now. [Now] we can see the future here and we can conceivably get to 100% percent [capacity] a lot faster than we ever thought that we would.”

“Even if you go back [to the 2019 POCD], the consultant at that time said there’s plenty of sewer capacity, because nobody saw the pandemic,” Vanderslice added. 

Indeed, five of the six active development projects received their sewer allocations since 2022.

Vanderslice admits the pace of development projects surprised town officials.

“None of us knew 131 Danbury Rd. was coming,” she said. “That was a complete surprise. So quite honestly, going into this year, we knew we were going to have a couple of developments, figured they’re going to come in over the next couple of years, and we’d have more time to figure out how we’d handle it… It really did just accelerate.”

One Step at a Time

Vanderslice sees the current capacity challenge as “a phase.”

“We’re in this little bit of a phase here,” she said. “If this [development] had all come at a slower pace, we probably wouldn’t even having this discussion.”

GMW asked Vanderslice at what point a decision to increase the contractual capacity would be inevitable.

“I don’t know that it’s ever ‘inevitable’ that the capacity has to be increased. That’s a decision that’s going to have to be made [but] I think you do this step by step,” she said.

That means waiting to see the outcome of the various steps the WPCA hopes will increase available capacity, and how quickly new development projects materialize.

While the WPCA’s new allocation policy expressly allows the WPCA discretion, the agreed-upon priority does not extend to some properties that have recently been of interest to developers, such as the School Sisters of Notre Dame property on Belden Hill Rd.

GMW asked Vanderslice whether the WPCA policy might deter developers from considering such a property outside the prioritized areas.

Vanderslice responded that the Town has yet to receive any pre-application materials from a developer for the Belden Hill Rd. property, but said she was confident that developers already in talks with the Town would be comfortable proceeding.

“I don’t think people that are currently talking to the Town are particularly surprised about this. This is not a surprise to the people who are at the table, because their engineers come in and talk to Frank [Smeriglio],” she said. “They’re aware of it, and we’re just going to have to figure it out one application at a time.”

Still, Vanderslice recognized the current “constraints” are real.

“There are capacity constraints. So bottom line, it’s likely to slow down the rapid pace of applications that we’ve seen over the last few months,” she said.

Vanderslice believes the Town is still sending a pro-development message.

“We have a POCD that says we’re looking for growth. We have the Wilton Center regulations that encourage some creativity, and we want to have more vibrancy. We’ve said we need more population if we are going to have a more vibrant downtown and things along Route 7 that people want. So we want all that and we’re open to it, and we still have capacity,” she said.