The Wilton Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) had its first look at detailed plans for the architecture and landscaping proposed for the former Wilton Baptist Church at 254 Danbury Rd. during a public hearing on Mar. 9, setting the stage for a continuation of the hearing at P&Z’s next scheduled meeting on Monday, Mar. 23.
Longtime Wilton resident, architect and Wilton Historical Society trustee William D. Earls, who purchased the 1.68-acre property five years ago, is proposing to convert the 1850s gothic revival church into four non-rental residential spaces and construct three new buildings on the site with the same look and feel as the original structure. Each of the new buildings would house two residential units each, for a total of 10 units with three to five bedrooms each.
Architecture Would Complement Historic Church Features
Attorney Laura Indellicati of the Stamford law firm Wofsey Rosen Kweskin & Kuriansky, representing developer 254 Danbury Road EAT, LLC, introduced the proposal by explaining that the new buildings, which would be built on the site of the existing parking lot, will be “sympathetic to the design and historical features of the church” and complemented by what she described as “robust, beautiful landscaping.” The church will remain the centerpiece of the site, with the other buildings not exceeding its height.
Indellicati said that the proposed development meets the setback and building height requirements for single-family residence zoning, and noted that site coverage would be reduced from over 50% to 36%, roughly half of the coverage allowed in the Danbury Rd. East Overlay District, in which the developer is seeking P&Z’s approval to be included. Indellicati also noted that only one of the 10 dwellings would exceed 3,000 square feet in area.
The owner of the former Wilton Baptist Church at 254 Danbury Rd. is proposing to convert the existing structure into multifamily housing units and construct three additional residential buildings on the 1.68-acre property. Credit: Wofsey Rosen presentation / Town of Wilton Zoom 
Wilton architect William D. Earls is proposing to convert the former church, fellowship hall, and schoolhouse at 254 Danbury Rd. into the centerpiece of a small 10-residence subdivision that would require P&Z to approve several exceptions to the zoning regulations. Credit: Wofsey Rosen presentation / Town of Wilton Zoom
Earls explained that the new buildings will reflect the veneers, gable roofs, casement windows and other architectural features of the existing three-building church complex, which is listed on the CT State Historic Preservation Office Historic Resources Inventory. He also proposes to include a “modest” amount of uplighting aimed at the church façade.
“Right now, you drive by and it’s just … a darkened building. I’d love to kind of be able to give it back a little bit to the communities, to light it up so we see it at night as we drive by,” Earls said.
John Conte of Conte & Conte, the site civil engineer for the project, noted that the design reduces the amount of impervious surface by about 10,000 square feet, and features below-ground infiltration galleries to capture and treat stormwater runoff from the new asphalt parking areas and roofs.
The plan calls for excavating part of the hill behind the church and grading it to a steep slope of two vertical feet for every horizontal foot — which is permitted by the zoning regulations — to allow two of the new residential buildings and their garages to be at the same elevation as the other buildings. Ray Janeiro of Down to Earth Consulting said that analysis of the rock type indicates that the slope will be stable. A curtain drain at the base of the excavation will be installed to capture runoff from the hill and channel it into existing city drainage on Danbury Rd.
Conte noted that the development team has received permission from Wilton’s Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) to discharge the project’s sanitary sewer, and has also addressed comments from the Department of Public Works (DPW) regarding sediment and erosion controls during construction.
Landscape architect Cleo Abrams of Conte & Conte said that one of the guiding principles of the project was to balance historic character with modern functionality.
American Elm trees will be used to frame the streetscape and partially shield the new buildings so that the visual focus from the street remains on the church. Forest pansy eastern redbuds, English holly, apple, and Japanese red pine will also be planted throughout the site. Shrubs, annuals and perennials, and hedgerows will be a combination of native flora and plants that are referenced in the Bible, in recognition of the church’s ecclesiastical heritage. Fencing has been limited to a black vinyl coated chain-link fence along the back of the lot abutting adjacent properties.
Developer Seeks Exceptions to Affordable Housing, Density Requirements
Following the site design presentations, Indellicati discussed the exceptions that the developer is asking P&Z to approve. Currently, the Danbury Rd. East Overlay District stipulates that at least 10% of the dwellings be affordable housing units; the developer is asking P&Z to approve changing the affordability requirement to apply only to projects with more than 10 residential units, which would exempt the project from having to provide any affordable housing. Indellicati argued that this was necessary because the project was “very costly.”
Likewise, the developer is seeking an exception to the overlay zone’s cap on the amount of land that can be disturbed on slopes, in order to excavate part of the hill for the two residential units in the back. Indellicati said that this would ensure the buildings sit low enough to avoid detracting from the church as the visually dominant structure, and would eliminate the need for a longer sloped driveway and also provide “natural screening” for the rear residences.
“The materials required for the historic restoration and to match the new structures to the historic church are more costly than the typical materials used in modern multifamily developments,” Indellicati said. “Additionally, the site, as noted, has a complicated topography that requires the rock excavation of the ledge to finish elevation with relatively fewer units than most multifamily developments. There’s really no way for this project to make sense financially, unless the units can be sold all 10 for the full market value.”
To offset the loss of affordable housing units, Indellicati noted that the proposal meets several other goals of the town’s Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD), including preserving an important historical asset and adding to the town’s stock of multifamily housing available for ownership rather than for rent.
“The commission doesn’t have to worry that, by granting this amendment, it would be clearing the way for a much larger development that has any historic preservation component and no affordable units,” Indellicati said. “It’s really kind of serving still the goal of accomplishing affordability by narrowly tailoring it within the overlay regulation.”
The developer is also seeking to increase the overlay zone’s floor area ratio (FAR) — the ratio of building floor space to the total size of the land parcel — from 0.25 to 0.5, the same as the larger Danbury Rd. West Overlay District across the street. The FAR for the proposed Baptist Church project is 0.365, which Indellicati said was a “modest increase” over the existing FAR.
“Despite the increased density, the applicant really has actually taken care, and as the [Architectural Review Board] appreciated as well, to not max out the site for development in order to maintain the church structure as a focal point of the property,” Indellicati said.
The public hearing for the Baptist Church property is scheduled continue with commissioner questions and public comments at P&Z’s next scheduled meeting on Mar. 23.