Key Points:
- P&Z votes 5-2 to approve redevelopment of former Wilton Baptist Church with exemption from affordable housing requirement
- Decision follows debate over zoning changes, precedent concerns and lack of financial justification from developer
- Officials signal broader affordable housing strategies, including proposed housing authority and trust fund
Why It Matters: The decision highlights ongoing tension in Wilton over development, historic preservation and how the town will address its affordable housing obligations moving forward.
Wilton’s Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) voted to approve the redevelopment of the former Wilton Baptist Church at 254 Danbury Rd. along with changes to the zoning regulations that would exempt the project from including a median-income housing unit.
Commissioners Trevor Huffard and Jessica Rainey voted against the change of zone application, which allows the property to be included in the Danbury Rd. East Overlay District.
Passage of the zone change was a prerequisite for also granting the developer’s request to change the overlay district’s current affordable housing requirements so that they do not apply to the redevelopment. The vote was held during P&Z’s Apr. 27 meeting.
[Editor’s note: the vote was 5-2; Commissioner Colin Christ was not in attendance, and Commissioner Michele Saglimbene said she was in attendance at the meeting as a member of the public and had not been elevated to participant status at the time of the vote.]
Huffard said the exemption was “arbitrary” and “setting a really, really, really bad example for future properties,” while Rainey said she couldn’t support it despite agreeing with the other commissioners that the proposed redevelopment is “a really great project.”
P&Z Chair Ken Hoffman, who previously stated he was against giving up the affordable housing component for the project, said that he changed his mind because he did not think the proposed development was the right “venue” for attempting to address the town’s affordable housing issue.
“Your idea that this really doesn’t move the needle on affordable is probably spot on,” Director of Planning and Land Use Management Michael Wrinn replied. “We’re looking at one unit versus … the potential unknown of possibly losing the structure there.”
Instead, Hoffman said, he would be going before the Wilton Board of Selectmen (BOS) on May 18 to present P&Z’s proposal for creating a new housing authority and establishing an affordable housing trust fund as long-term strategies for balancing the town’s housing stock.
Redevelopment Seeks to Preserve Historic Landmark
254 Danbury Road EAT, LLC proposes to convert the 1850s gothic revival church into four residential spaces and construct three new buildings on the 1.68-acre site in the same style as the existing church structures. William D. Earls, an architect and Wilton Historical Society trustee, purchased the property five years ago in what he has said was an effort to save the building from being torn down to make way for a retail project.
Residents and business owners who supported the redevelopment cited the unique historical landmark nature of the church, and praise the proposal’s aesthetics as a refreshing alternative to the modern residential designs commonly found in and around Wilton. Opponents argued that the proposed changes to the overlay district — including changing the affordable housing requirement to apply to developments with 11 or more residential units, which happens to be one more unit than what is being proposed for the project — amounted to illegal “spot zoning.” However, an opinion issued by town counsel concluded that the proposed changes did not constitute spot zoning.
During the public hearings for the project, Earls’ attorney, Laura Indellicati, argued that the changes to the zoning regulations were necessary because it would be difficult for the developer to recoup its costs unless all 10 units could be sold at market rates. However, 254 Danbury Road EAT did not submit financial data to bolster the claim, and as a result the commissioners were unable to factor that into its decision.
In response to a question by commissioner Margit Ritz, Wrinn noted that one condition of approval of the special permit is that the developer would continue the proposed sidewalk along Danbury Rd. to link up with a new sidewalk being constructed by the state.
The votes to approve the proposed amendments to the overlay zone regulations and the special permit application, which followed the vote on the change of zone application, were unanimous in the commissioners’ support.
Hoffman to Present Trust Fund, Housing Authority Proposals to Board of Selectmen
As GOOD Morning Wilton previously reported, during their Apr. 15 special session the commissioners agreed to propose that the BOS create a housing authority and establish an affordable housing trust fund to fund the long-term development of median-income housing in Wilton. The commissioners also proposed that the town’s zoning regulations — which are in the earliest stages of a comprehensive update — be revised to impose a uniform minimum percentage of affordable housing according all residential zones.
Additionally, P&Z recommends that the town use the state median income to calculate affordable pricing, rather than the higher local income. In addition to making housing more affordable to a larger number of people, use of the state median income would also allow the town to qualify for certification under the state’s 8-30g affordable housing statute that would unlock a four-year moratorium on having to meet the statute’s affordable housing requirements.
Hoffman and a delegation of P&Z commissioners will be presenting the proposal to the selectmen during the BOS session on Monday, May 18.
P&Z Approves Special Permit for Genesis Program Relocation
As its first order of business during the Apr. 27 meeting, P&Z unanimously approved an application by Wilton Public Schools to allow it to acquire 4,400 square feet in the former Dun & Bradstreet complex at 187 Danbury Rd. to serve as the new home for its innovative Genesis alternative learning program.
The Genesis program provides a smaller school environment for students in grades 7-12 who experience difficulties thriving in a traditional classroom environment. The program has four full-time teachers and one full-time social worker.
During a public hearing on Apr. 13, Wilton Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Kevin Smith explained that moving the Genesis program from its current location at Trackside Teen Center would allow the program to accommodate modest growth from its current average of 20 students.
The program will be located in the second floor of the smaller of the two buildings in the complex, and will benefit from the facility’s large parking lot for safe dropping off and picking up of students.