During the Monday, May 13 meeting, the Planning and Zoning Commission voted to approve a zone change and special permit for 131 Danbury Rd. This vote clears the way for the construction of a 4.5-story, 208-unit multifamily building at the site in between Ring’s End and the former Melissa and Doug headquarters, which is itself now the home of the 173-unit Riverside Wilton apartments.
P&Z Chair Rick Tomasetti, explaining his vote in favor, described the project as “a natural outcome of everything we’ve been trying to do here as a Commission.”
“I think it’s a big improvement on the property,” said Commissioner Mark Ahasic.
In recent weeks, 131 Danbury rd. earned hard-won approvals from the Water Pollution Control Authority (which had paused the project’s application for a sewer extension in light of Wilton’s dwindling sewer capacity issues), the Inland Wetlands Commission (which had flagged concerns about danger to the Norwalk River during flooding events on the site), and the Wilton Police Department (which had safety concerns about the proposed driveways.)
In response to the Police Department’s safety concerns, which were shared by the Office of the State Traffic Administration (OSTA), the site will now have a single driveway for entry and exit. It will be located across from the entrance driveway to Wilton Hills Community, raising questions about whether a stop light should be added to what will now be a four-way intersection. This decision will rest with OSTA, given that Rte. 7 is a state road.
The complex will feature 95 one-bedroom units, 105 two-bedroom units, and 8 three-bedroom units. In presenting to the Commission, the applicant team behind 131 Danbury Rd. estimated that the 208 new residential units would add approximately 20 new students to Wilton schools.
It joins a wave of multi-family residential buildings under construction or being proposed in a four-mile stretch of Wilton in recent years, including the new 173-unit building at 141 Danbury Rd. just next door. A recent special report by GOOD Morning Wilton highlights 131 Danbury Rd. specifically as reflective of the range of balances and trade-offs that have come into focus in this new development boom.
The traffic study conducted for the project indicated that even with two operating driveways, the site would score an F for traffic flow, meaning each vehicle would have a wait time of 80 seconds or greater to exit the property during peak hours. In response to concerns from the public about traffic impacts, Tomasetti argued during the Commission’s Apr. 30 meeting that managing traffic is “a state problem.”
“I think it’s beyond past due for the State of Connecticut to come here and deal with Rte. 7, and make sure that we have a viable infrastructure here,” Tomasetti said. “They take our tax dollars and they should take care of this.”
He added, “So anyone who wants to talk to me about traffic — any member of the public — I am here to debate traffic with you. I’m not satisfied that we should curb our development because of traffic.”
Looking Ahead
The next meeting of the Planning & Zoning Commission is scheduled for Tuesday, May 28. At the outset of the May 13 meeting, Town Planner Michael Wrinn explained that the team behind 64 Danbury Rd. had requested a postponement. Public comment on the project is now expected to be heard at the May 28 meeting.
The eight-building, 93-unit apartment complex proposed for a wooded hillside within Wilton Corporate Park is currently in negotiations with the Inland Wetlands Commission over two recently proposed alternatives that may mitigate some of the project’s impact on wetlands and trees on site.
The May 13 meeting also included a brief pre-application hearing with the project team behind the Toll Brothers’ redevelopment of 15 Old Danbury Rd. as a 208-unit apartment building. This discussion follows up the prior hearing with P&Z on Mar. 12. Both the March and May discussions were pre-application, meaning they are non-binding discussions between the Commission and an applicant where feedback and design options can be discussed before a formal application is submitted. The project is also in the midst of a pre-application review with the Architectural Review Board (ARB). A summary of those discussions will follow later this week after Wednesday’s special meeting of the ARB.
I visited the new apartments at 141 Danbury Rd the other day to check them out…..very nice! However, trying to exit left out of the single driveway was impossible due to traffic, so I went right and turned around down the road! This was the experience at 3pm and 141 Danbury Rd has no residents yet! If the plan is to develop more communities on Danbury Rd without regard to traffic flow and congestion, it will be a nightmare for residents and commuters! Sounds like a bad plan?