Plans to update Wilton’s zoning regulations and advance the long-awaited Cannondale master plan have been put on hold after town officials were unable to account for $100,000 in planning funds — a revelation that is now raising questions about transparency and communication at Town Hall.
Director of Planning and Land Use Management Michael Wrinn disclosed the discrepancy at the Monday, Feb. 9 meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z), describing it as a “stumbling block” just as the department was preparing to hire a consultant.
The news relates to ongoing processes and finance issues at Town Hall. Despite the disclosure to P&Z on Monday, Feb. 9, neither First Selectman Toni Boucher nor Chief Financial Officer Dawn Savo informed the Board of Finance or Board of Selectmen during subsequent meetings held later that week.
“This Throws a Real Wrench in the Works”
“So for the commission’s clarification, we’ve hit a stumbling block here,” Wrinn said. “We’re trying to get confirmation that we have the planning monies that we thought we had.”
Wrinn said details remain unclear, but the discrepancy appears related to the recent turnovers in Finance Department leadership and the Town’s acknowledged difficulties during its transition to a new accounting system.
According to Wrinn, former Chief Financial Officer Dawn Norton assured him last July about the availability of funds to hire consultants for the projects, and that there was sufficient funding split among three accounts.
“Now we have the new … finance people saying that we’ve got $220,000, but there’s $100,000 in a reserve that they’re looking for, [which] they feel that the old director misplaced, and $100,000 of planning funds was duplicated, and we don’t have that,” Wrinn told the commissioners. “So before we go forward on anything, We’re just trying to get a good sense of what we have for planning funds.”
Wrinn explained that the Planning & Zoning Department was close to selecting a contractor for the work from a pool of five firms that had made presentations to the Commission last year. As reported by GOOD Morning Wilton! at that time, the Commission has set a target completion date of October 2026 for the project.
“This throws a real wrench in the works and we’re trying to work through that,” Wrinn concluded.
“For this year’s budget, I need to get an answer so I know where we’re going,” Wrinn said. “If we only have $120,000, we have to have a good discussion on what do we want to spend that on. Do we let the zoning regs and the sign regs go for another year? Or do we just look at Cannondale and do a master plan there?”
Wrinn explained that if the Finance Department confirms that the $100,000 is indeed missing, he will ask for it to be included in the Fiscal 2027 budget, which the Board of Selectmen (BOS) is in the process of preparing right now. He also noted that his department has submitted a request for the following year’s budget to include funds for the next Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD) that would allow them to begin a search in July 2027 and have a consultant in place by the beginning of 2028, should that fallback option be necessary.
Delays Could Impact Town’s Compliance with New State Housing Law
Wrinn said that the funding issue could also impact the town’s review of actions required to comply with impending mandates in the state’s new housing law, H.B. 8002, an Act Concerning Housing Growth, which he previously described as “a heavy lift.”
Wilton is allowed to designate up to 8% of its land as Traffic Mitigation Zones (TMZ), which would allow the Town to maintain at least some control over its minimum parking requirements. The Planning and Zoning Department is proposing to create two such zones of 4% each, representing roughly 700 contiguous acres.
HB 8002 stipulates that proposals for smaller housing developments of up to 16 units are not required to provide off‑street parking unless they are located within a TMZ.
Wrinn said that he and his staff will work with the Western Connecticut Council of Governments (WestCOG) to at least get the process started, but he recommended the town engage an expert engineering consultant to develop parking and sewer requirements for properties with between two and nine units.
P&Z has until July 1, 2026 to define the TMZs and any related changes to the parking regulations.
P&Z Chair Ken Hoffman said that he wasn’t sure if he was comfortable proceeding with any of those projects without the expertise of consultants. Hoffman said that it might be possible for planning and zoning staff to prepare a comparison table between existing town zoning regulations and new state legislation as a way to get that project at least started, but “the other two, I can’t see how we get those done.”
First Selectman Boucher’s Response
During the P&Z meeting on Monday, Wrinn said that he planned to meet again with First Selectman Toni Boucher to “push” the matter.
GOOD Morning Wilton asked Boucher when she first learned about the $100,000 discrepancy and how it was discovered.
“This relates to prior approved capital operating budget funds before Dawn Savo was hired. The review and reconciliation of those funds has been delayed due to FY27 budget preparation, but will be resumed shortly. In the meantime, the department has been advised not to spend those funds until the balance is confirmed. This is standard practice.”
Boucher did not respond to multiple questions about why Savo did not inform the Board of Finance about the unaccounted-for funds during her financial update and budget review at the BOF meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 10, or why Boucher did not tell the Board of Selectmen at a special meeting it held on Wednesday, Feb. 11. Nor did she confirm whether any member on either board had been informed about the unaccounted-for $100,000.
Board of Finance Chair Tim Birch told GMW in an email, “If it was known to be incorrect within the preliminary budget, I would think best practices would be to bring it to our attention. Further, it should have been brought to the BOS since it is their budget.”
Boucher did not respond when asked if she was concerned or felt any urgency, given the difficulty P&Z would have proceeding on any project planned for FY 2026 without hiring paid consultants — specifically including the Town’s need to respond to mandated efforts in HB 8002.
“Wilton will do whatever is necessary to comply with any mandates that are required, just as it always has,” Boucher said.
P&Z has until July 1, 2026 to define traffic mitigation zones and adopt related parking regulations.
There certainly has been a lot of fraud-like activity in Wilton’s Finance Dept. Is anybody being held accountable for this?