The Planning & Zoning Commission’s first meeting of 2024, held on Monday, Jan. 8, set the stage for a series of public hearings coming up in the next few weeks. The Commission also voted to change the construction hours on the job site for the new police headquarters and looked ahead to several proposals that will soon come up for review.
Two More Multifamily Developments Proposed for Route 7
131 Danbury Rd.
Town Planner Michael Wrinn alerted the Commission that an application for a new 4.5-story, 208-unit multi-family development will soon reach their desks. The site is 131 Danbury Rd., just south of the 141 Danbury Rd. complex currently under construction at the former Melissa & Doug corporate office. The Water Pollution Control Authority will discuss the project’s sewer capacity needs at its meeting tomorrow (Wednesday, Jan. 10).
Wrinn noted that the Inland Wetlands Commission required a third-party peer review of the project’s environmental impact and that the resulting report (available online) offers a comprehensive look at the project. He recommended that P&Z require a peer review of the project’s traffic study as well, similar to what was required in the review of 141 Danbury Rd.
64 Danbury Rd.
The Commission will also soon hear the latest proposal for a 93-unit multifamily complex at 64 Danbury Rd. This will mark the third time the project has come before P&Z since 2021.
The Architectural Review Board has been working with the applicant over the last few months to fine tune the latest design, a complex of black “modernized colonial” buildings. GOOD Morning Wilton detailed the latest developments in the design process and the project’s complicated history in a story last month.
New State Laws Mean Zoning Changes for Wilton
EV Charging Stations
As discussed in December, the Connecticut Clean Air Act requires Wilton mandate a minimum number of electric vehicle charging stations at new developments. Currently, Wilton’s zoning regulations do not set a minimum.
In accordance with the Act, any proposed commercial or multifamily residential buildings with more than 30 parking spaces will now be required to include EV charging infrastructure in at least 10% of the spaces. The State allows municipalities to increase this minimum if desired, but sets a cap at 20%.
Wrinn shared text for a proposed regulation stipulating the 10% minimum for EV charging stations. This draft regulation will go to a public hearing at P&Z’s next meeting, scheduled for Monday, Jan. 22. At Rotini’s suggestion, the regulation will require that both the fire marshal and the chief of the Wilton Fire Department weigh in on the location of the stations.
In-Home Day Cares
Recent State legislation also requires Wilton to update its zoning requirements for group day care homes. Public Act 23-142 states that municipalities cannot prohibit or require special permits for licensed family child care homes or group child care homes that are located in residences.
Currently, Wilton’s zoning requires group child care homes (those serving between seven and 12 children) to apply for a special permit in order to operate in a single-family zone. Family child care homes serving up to six children are already allowed without a special permit.
New zoning language that eliminates the special permit requirement for group child care homes has been posted online. A public hearing about the proposed change will also be held during the Jan. 22 meeting.
Earlier Mornings Ahead at the Police HQ Job Site
The only matter that went to a vote during the Jan. 8 meeting concerned the start time for construction at the new Wilton Police Department headquarters. Assistant Director of Public Works Jeff Pardo spoke to the Commission requesting that they approve a 7 a.m. start time at the site Monday–Friday, 30 minutes earlier than is currently allowed. Wrinn explained that the start time appears to be boilerplate text that has been copied into approvals for years and is not formally codified in Wilton’s zoning regulations.
Pardo explained that DPW staff reviewed the start times for construction in nearby towns and found that only Wilton restricted construction starts to 7:30 a.m. Vice Chair Melissa-Jean Rotini asked which towns were reviewed, and Pardo listed the following: Greenwich, Stamford, Darien, Norwalk, New Canaan, Westport, Bridgeport, Ridgefield, and Danbury. He noted that he could not find start times for Weston or Redding, but all the other towns reviewed used a 7 a.m. start.
Rotini stated that she didn’t think Bridgeport and Stamford were comparable to Wilton in terms of noise dynamics. However, Wrinn noted there is a significant buffer between the site and nearby residential properties and Pardo indicated that nearby projects and activities (including the construction of the new LDS Meeting House across the street and town services like snow plows, ambulances, and other vehicles) are already active.
The Commission voted unanimously to approve the change.
Combination Coffee Shop & Playground Proposed for Wilton Center
As a final topic, Wrinn introduced a new application that was just submitted on Friday. Called the Topsy Turvy Café & Playground, the proposal is for a coffee shop and attached play area for children located in the Town Green building in Wilton Center.
Wrinn explained that the application arrived too late to be posted publicly and added to the evening’s agenda, where it normally would have been formally accepted by the Commission and reviewed at the next meeting. He posed that, the if Commissioners wanted to, they could vote to temporarily suspend Commission rules and accept the application anyway, allowing it to go to public hearing on Jan. 22 rather waiting until February.
In light of the heavy workload anticipated in February, the Commissioners opted to do so. The application was accepted and will appear on the agenda for Monday, Jan. 22. GMW.
Editor’s note: the Totsy Turvy application was posted to the town website before publication time Tuesday morning, Jan. 9