WVAC’s Plans for New HQ Hit Speed Bumps as Wilton’s EMTs Navigate Competing Priorities and Town’s Complex Approval Process

This evening, Wednesday, Sept. 18, the Zoning Board of Appeals will meet to discuss the Wilton Volunteer Ambulance Corps’ plans to redevelop 232 Danbury Rd. as its new headquarters. This will be WVAC’s second visit to ZBA; in July, the nonprofit group was granted four variances related to site coverage, parking, and retaining walls. WVAC is returning to ZBA tonight to discuss two additional variances the project needs: one to permit additional signage on the site and another to allow the new structure to sit closer to its property line than is ordinarily allowed.

The six variances themselves have been fairly uncontroversial but the project itself has generated considerable attention. Local archivist Julie Hughes contributed an article to GOOD Morning Wilton in May detailing the history of the site, which includes remnants of a home owned by a formerly enslaved man named John C. Walley. Over the last two centuries, the house has been altered significantly with multiple additions and renovations; by most accounts, two walls and the floorboards may be all that remain from his time there.

Hanging over the process is a growing curiosity about why the application is being reviewed by ZBA at this stage at all, when a full application to the Planning and Zoning Commission itself seems inevitable.

Background

WVAC purchased the property in August after a fraught back and forth with the Town, with WVAC alleging that at one point First Selectwoman Toni Boucher gave them the clear impression it would be “political suicide” to proceed with the purchase. Questions emerged about whether Town officials were exploring purchasing the property for another use or would be unwilling to approve an ambulance facility in what is currently zoned as R-1A, a residential area. Zoning aside, the site is located alongside the emergency services driveway already used by the Wilton Fire Department, making it an ideal location for WVAC.

The group is a non-profit organization whose volunteers provide emergency medical services and transportation on nearly 2,000 calls each year. Despite its outsized importance to the health and welfare of residents, the Town has historically not served as a significant funder of the organization. WVAC currently receives just $100,000 a year from Town sources, equivalent to approximately 10% of the group’s operating budget.

This spring, matters came to a head when WVAC’s years-long effort to secure new headquarters on the Town Hall campus was omitted from the Board of Selectmen’s Municipal Facility Needs Assessment. WVAC’s current building is over 90 years old and long outgrown. The current arrangement requires the group to store equipment off-site and travel between headquarters and the garage in inclement and dangerous weather responding to emergencies.

The group ultimately resolved to purchase the property at 232 Danbury Rd. on its own and fundraise for the construction of the new center. An application with ZBA was filed on June 20, a full six weeks before the purchase of the site was finalized.

WVAC’s President John Miscioscia says that is when they first heard about a historic preservation concern on the site. The structure on the site is listed on Wilton’s Historic Resources Inventory but its inclusion there does not carry strict legal restrictions like homes on the National Register of Historic Properties would, for instance.

Historical Context

Hughes and others have argued that the house should be preserved, not for its architectural significance, but as an artifact of cultural significance. Cultural preservation is a branch of the field that goes beyond more traditional “brick-and-mortar” preservation to safeguard heritage spaces that hold historic or social relevance. In places like New York City, where the preservation of works of architectural or design excellence has long dominated the discussion, efforts to preserve sites such as homes that served as stops on the Underground Railroad are growing.

Walley had been enslaved in Wilton until, it is presumed, age 21, at which point he was legally freed. He went on to work at Wilton’s St. Matthews’ Church and a nearby property, eventually purchasing the home at 232 Danbury Rd. from his employer. He and his family lived in the house for 10 years before selling it and moving to Bridgeport.

Hughes argues that stories of people enslaved in Wilton and who, like Walley, later went on to live lives as free men and women constitute a sort of forgotten history of the town.

“We just don’t have that many physical remnants of any sort touching on this history, here in Wilton or even at the county and state level,” she said, citing Newtown’s Cato Freedom House as one of the few other examples. Indeed, the preservation of homes of private citizens (vs. homes of public figures, places where historically significant events took place, or buildings that are architecturally remarkable) is uncharted territory for many municipalities.

To that point, Hughes said, “Frankly, private individuals are the bulk of history. I hope we can expand beyond just the old-fashioned ‘Great Man’ theory of history.” Hughes is affiliated with the Wilton Historical Society as well as the Wilton Library, but her advocacy on this topic is as a private individual and does not reflect the position of any of the organizations she is now or has been affiliated with.

Wilton Historical Society President Nick Foster offered a similar comment. “We don’t have a lot of physical history of enslaved people and freed people in Wilton,” he said. “Not a lot of belongings survived, and we have court records, but those don’t offer a personal connection. Standing on the floorboards he walked on and putting yourself in that physical space builds a cultural connection.”

What Can Be Done?

Contrary to early reports, there is no feasible option to leave the house in place undisturbed — portions of the proposed driveway, drainage system, and headquarters building itself overlap with the footprint of the historic structure. Foster and WVAC met this week to tour the house and explore options to relocate it off of the 232 Danbury Rd. site.

“We’re no strangers to moving buildings,” Foster said. “We own 18 buildings and have been moving them around since the 1980s.” That said, he added that the project to relocate would be a daunting task, likely costing six figures. Like WVAC, the Historical Society is a non-profit organization.  

On that note, while WVAC’s service to the town will continue uninterrupted, there is a certain cost to a circuitous or complex approval process.

“If you’ve never built a building, you realize there’s a lot of costs that aren’t just land and materials,” Miscioscia said. “We’ve already spent $1.4 million to purchase the property, in addition to outlays for architecture, engineering, surveys, traffic studies, and legal fees.”

And Why ZBA?

The level of attention on the application is unusual for ZBA, where the majority of public hearings concern alterations to private homes, and most opposition, if any, boils down to neighborly disputes. ZBA’s role is to adjudicate cases when someone challenges a decision of a zoning officer, e.g. an employee of the Wilton Department of Planning and Zoning; or approving generally minor deviations from the zoning code. For example, other applications being heard Wednesday night include requests to allow a visible air conditioner unit in a residential front yard, a wheelchair ramp in front of a local funeral home, and a fence and patio on a property that is under the one-acre size typical in the area.

In ZBA hearings, applicants must prove why following the strict letter of the zoning code would pose a special “hardship” in their case.

The project has also appeared on the agendas for the Architectural Review Board and the Historic Districts and Historic Properties Commission. ARB’s mandate is to review the aesthetic design of buildings, so the bulk of the board’s discussion was focused on WVAC’s plans for the site. However, several members expressed hope that if the building itself could not be preserved, some kind of plaque or tribute could be incorporated. HDHP discussed sending a letter to P&Z in support of preserving the structure but is holding off after learning that the project is not yet being reviewed by P&Z.

The site at 232 Danbury Rd. is zoned as R-1A, which means a special permit would be required for non-residential uses. The site has been in use by commercial entities for years, but a special permit allowing commercial use would not permit an ambulance facility.

Assuming that a full application to P&Z and public review process is forthcoming for the project, these two visits to ZBA (one coming before the purchase is even made) are fairly unusual. The matters being approved at the ZBA level — setbacks, site coverage, signage, etc. — are all integral topics of review at P&Z for applications of much less impact on the town.

The application is not currently listed as an upcoming or current public hearing on the P&Z site, and each visit to a Town review Board carries a financial cost to the applicant in the form of legal fees and, if needed, plan updates. GOOD Morning Wilton could not find many examples of a project going to ZBA for approval before the proposal is even submitted to P&Z, although there are some similarities with the process that was used for the new Police Headquarters. In WVAC’s case, they will be making at least two trips before ZBA to discuss variances before even beginning the special permit and public hearing process at P&Z.

Looking Ahead

The Zoning Board of Appeals will meet this evening, Wednesday, Sept. 18, at 7 p.m. on Zoom. An agenda and Zoom link can be found on the Town website. The discussion of 232 Danbury Rd. is a public hearing (though whether public comment will be allowed at this stage could not be confirmed.) The discussion is likely to focus narrowly on the two variances currently under consideration — the signage on site and the setback requirements.