Tonight, Monday, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m., the Wilton Planning and Zoning Commission will hold a public hearing on plans to amend the Wilton Center zoning overlay to require that all projects set aside 10% of residential units as affordable housing. This amendment would correct the commission’s failure to originally include such a requirement in the zoning overlay, an element that was discussed openly throughout the development of the new regulations.

The public hearing will provide the opportunity for members of the Wilton public to participate during the Zoom meeting.

WestCOG Calls for Higher Affordability Requirement

On Dec. 4, the Western Connecticut Council of Governments responded to Wilton’s referral regarding the new proposed regulations in a brief, 100-word memo stating that, based on their study of Wilton and similar communities, the requirement for new development should be 12-16% affordable, not 10%.

Town Planner Michael Wrinn’s staff memo to the commission summarizing the response does not mention this discrepancy, and instead merely directs commissioners to look up the recommendation in a 171-page report issued by WestCOG in May.

What WestCOG wrote:

Regional staff would like to share that the WestCOG Affordable Housing Financing Study published in May 2024 recommends requiring 12-16% of new developments to qualify as affordable housing in “urban fringe” land use typologies.

What Wrinn reported to the commission:

Although the report is voluminous, WestCOG staff refer the Commission to page 92, which provides certain recommendations to expand affordable housing and create opportunities to reach a moratorium and 10% threshold under 8-30g in what is seen as an Urban Fringe area.

*Emphasis added by GMW.   

WestCOG’s advice seems to align with comments made by P&Z Vice Chair Melissa-Jean Rotini during the Wilton Center master plan process at a meeting on Jan. 4, 2023. 

“I don’t want to see 10% affordable housing. I have been hearing forever that you can’t do more than 10% affordable,” she said before referencing the town of Darien. “I’m pretty sure that their code says 12 [percent], and I think they’re increasing it potentially to 14 [percent]. Ten [percent] doesn’t help; it maintains the baseline or makes it worse. If we’re going to be changing this, why are we not going for the gusto and putting it at 12 with a 15-up?”

The Greater Wilton Center Master Plan subcommittee, which was led by P&Z Chair Rick Tomasetti and included Rotini and Commissioner Chris Pagliaro, had intended to incorporate 10% affordability in all residential projects using the new overlay.

Instead, the zoning overlay brought to the broader commission for a vote on Nov. 27, 2023, made no mention of requiring affordability in the neighborhood. The existing, underlying zoning for Wilton Center makes no mention of affordability either, presumably because residential development was largely prohibited prior to the creation of the new overlay.

The error or omission only came to light when Craig Flaherty, engineer for Kimco’s redevelopment at 15-21 River Rd., pointed it out to Tomasetti in a meeting on Sept. 23.

For background on recent discussions at P&Z about the absence of an affordability requirement in the Wilton Center zoning overlay, please see our past coverage:

Why All the Emphasis on Affordable Housing?

The portion of affordable housing units in new developments matters because Wilton’s stock of affordable housing currently constitutes roughly 4% of the town’s overall residential properties. This means that Wilton is susceptible to 8-30g, a state law that encourages affordable housing by allowing developers to sidestep local zoning in towns with less than 10% affordable housing if their projects offer at least 30% affordability. To be exempt from 8-30g, Wilton would have to either meet the law’s minimum target of 10% affordable housing stock overall, or earn a four-year moratorium by demonstrating that the town has increased affordable units by at least 2% since the prior census.

Both options now seem more out of reach than ever. The recently approved Kimco project with its 1.8% rate of affordability appears to statistically erase all affordable housing gains made by the town in non-8-30g projects over the last several years.

The most recent project passed under threat of 8-30g is 12 Godfrey Pl., a building that is the result of a failed standoff between P&Z and developer Rich Granoff. The commission had sought to force Granoff to hold his application for a four-story, 32-unit building in Wilton Center until the subcommittee’s two-year-long master plan process had concluded. Granoff eventually made good on his threats to resubmit the project as a more austere five-story, 42-unit building that met the affordability threshold of 8-30g. With its hands tied, the commission reluctantly approved the project 5-1 after a scathing deliberation.

Looking Ahead

The public hearing on P&Z’s proposed affordable housing amendment for Wilton Center will take place on Monday, Dec. 9. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. and will be held on Zoom. The agenda and link for the public to participate have been posted on the town website.