Editor’s note: This story reflects discussion at the Mar. 9, 2026 Planning & Zoning Commission meeting. At that time, officials said they were still working to determine the status of approximately $100,000 in previously budgeted funds — an issue first raised publicly on Feb. 9. The matter has been linked to the Town’s still-unresolved efforts to reconcile financial accounts from recent fiscal years, in part due to accounting system changes and staffing turnover. GOOD Morning Wilton has reached out to officials for an update on whether those funds have since been accounted for, but has not received a firm response as of publication. The story will be updated accordingly when we hear anything.
With no clear answers yet on the whereabouts of $100,000 in unaccounted-for planning funds, the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) decided during its Monday, Mar. 9 meeting to use the existing funds to proceed with the long-planned update to the town’s zoning regulations and defer other projects until more money is available.
“My sense of this is that we should use the money towards setting a budget, as we’ve discussed in our previous meeting, for the zoning update,” P&Z Chair Ken Hoffman said during the discussion. “I think we need our zoning regulations updated. I’ve been on this commission for long enough now that I know the fact that they’re not. And I think [P&Z Vice Chair] Mark [Ahasic] and [commissioner] Jill [Duncan] can attest to that. And if [commissioner] Anthony [Cenatiempo] was here, he would be, I believe, nodding his head as well.”
The Planning Department still has $120,000 in its current budget available for hiring consultants. Director of Planning and Land Use Management Michael Wrinn said he would prepare a request for proposals (RFP) for a consultant to review and propose updates for the zoning regulations, and include a not-to-exceed price falling within the available budget.
Wrinn noted that the town’s previous RFP for the zoning regulations update did not specify a cap, and the estimates the planning department received ranged from $90,000 to $170,000. By way of comparison, Wrinn said that a similar RFP issued recently by New Canaan specified a $100,000 cap.
As GOOD Morning Wilton previously reported, Wrinn brought the matter of the ‘misplaced’ funds to P&Z’s attention at its Feb. 9 meeting. The discrepancy appears to be related to the recent leadership turnovers in the Finance Department and difficulties with implementing the town’s new accounting system.
In the meantime, finance officials are looking for other sources to help P&Z complete what it had planned for FY 2026.
“There was [another] $100,000, and they’re just seeing if that’s still viable after … five years,” Wrinn said. “They’re trying to get an answer on that. So that’s … still viable. That’s a possibility that’s out there.”
As for the other projects P&Z had budgeted for to tackle in FY 2026 with that $100,000, Wrinn said he requested that amount be added to the Fiscal Year 2027 planning budget to pay for consultants to assist the town with developing the Cannondale Master Plan and $20,000 for help reviewing the actions the town must take to comply with the state’s new housing law, H.B. 8002, an Act Concerning Housing Growth. Wrinn said funding for the next Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD) will be allocated in the Fiscal Year 2028 budget.
Contacted for comment on the status of the $100,000, P&Z Chair Hoffman told GMW that as of Mar. 18 he hasn’t received a “definitive answer.”
“Since P&Z is on the receiving end of this money and the BOS/BOF are the allocators and controllers of the audit, perhaps the First Selectman’s office can help you get the ‘definitive answer,'” he emailed.
GMW has also reached out to CFO Dawn Savo and Mike Wrinn in the P&Z Department, and will update accordingly.
Special Meeting Planned to Discuss Affordable Housing Regulations
Also during the Mar. 9 meeting, the commissioners agreed to set up a special Zoom meeting on Wednesday, Apr. 15 to discuss the current state of Wilton’s affordable housing in advance of the 2029 POCD, work on which will begin next year.
As GMW has reported, the state’s 8-30g affordable housing statute grants certificates of affordable housing completion to municipalities that acquire sufficient “housing unit-equivalent points” to equal 2% of its total dwelling units. Wilton, which has approximately 6,200 dwelling units, would require roughly 124 points to earn the certification.
Some of the options available to the town include applying any of several currently unused zones that may allow a higher percentage of affordable housing units, and assigning higher percentages of affordable homes to certain zones to balance out the overall average.
Hoffman agreed with a suggestion from Commissioner Trevor Huffard that public comments on the topic would be valuable, but recommended P&Z meet first to review available information and develop consensus on both the issues and potential solutions before opening it up for public input.
As a starting point for the deliberations, Wrinn offered to provide the commissioners with the section of the current POCD that covers strategies for increasing affordable housing.
The impact of new state housing laws has been a significant factor in recent P&Z deliberations. Hoffman noted that the Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) currently has “numerous” pieces of proposed housing legislation before it, many of which would have potentially significant impacts on current local zoning regulations if passed.
Wrinn noted that the Western Connecticut Council of Governments (WestCOG) has been tracking the various bills and submitting testimony as appropriate, and Planning Department staff are also following their progress as well.
“We’ll see what hits the ground, and then we’re going to have to deal with it when it comes to fruition,” Wrinn said.
For the next P&Z meeting, Hoffman asked the commissioners to review the bills currently working their way through the state legislature to see if they have any comments P&Z could submit as testimony.
Wilton Placed in “Future Consideration” Category in State Transit Development Study
The Connecticut Department of Transportation (CT-DOT) released the results of its Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Site Prioritization Study, and Wilton was one of eight towns whose state-owned transit station sites were not recommended for further study for potential residential and commercial development.
In summarizing the report, Wrinn noted that almost all of the transit sites recommended for further study were on main transit lines, while the others, like Wilton, were on smaller spur lines.
The study noted that the largest area at Wilton’s train station, at 7 Station Rd., has a “development-friendly” rectangular shape and the area is zoned for mixed use, which includes multifamily homes. The study noted that the existing parking lot is likely to become “increasingly strained” from new residential development, and also pointed out that the neighborhood’s walkability and bike infrastructure are “limited but improving.”
While Wilton has expressed interest in undertaking transit-friendly development around the station, the “high volume of development currently underway” in Wilton could potentially conflict with state plans unless carefully coordinated between the two parties, the report concluded.
Wrinn said that CT-DOT’s conclusions will not impact the town’s plans for the area that are already underway, including the former Commonfund building at 15 Old Danbury Rd. being redeveloped into a five-story apartment building with over 200 units. Other nearby developments include the Wilton Center Lofts at 12 Godfrey Pl. and Kimco‘s planned Wilton Campus redevelopment at 21 River Rd.
“We’ll see how quickly they move these [approved] projects along,” Wrinn said. “Ours is classified as mid- to long-term planning, so it would be a while, I think, before anything serious would happen with the state at our location.”