The entity 118 Old Ridgefield Road LLC is seeking site plan and special permit approvals along with zoning waivers for a transit-oriented mixed-use development on a 0.53-acre parcel at 118 Old Ridgefield Road in Wilton. The office building now on the site has been used by an attorney, social worker, photo studio and others.
The plan calls for demolishing the existing 2-1/2-story building and putting up a new four-story multi-family structure that would have 20 apartments and retail space on the ground floor. The apartment mix would include seven one-bedroom apartments. nine two-bedroom units and four three-bedroom apartments. There would be 29 parking spaces built at grade level underneath the building. There would be one one-bedroom apartment and one two-bedroom apartment priced in the affordable category to meet Wilton’s requirement for 10% of the units in a project to be affordable housing.
The developer is seeking waivers for exceeding the area permitted for impervious surfaces by 3%, where 80% coverage is allowed under zoning. The building’s maximum height is proposed to be 58.5 feet, while 48 feet is permitted. The maximum height at the building’s face is proposed to be 40.6 feet while 39 feet is permitted.
The developer said that the proposal “complies with many goals and policies of the Plan of Conservation and Development, most importantly addressing Wilton’s ‘top community goal’ to diversify the town’s housing stock.”
The developer told the Wilton Planning and Zoning Commission, “The proposed structure takes many architectural and massing cues from other residential and mixed-use structures in the neighborhood including the gazebo on the Town Green and the mixed-use building at the corner of Old Ridgefield Road and Godfrey Place, and other structures in the vicinity. The scale, massing, proportions, and detailing are intended to relate to the surrounding New England Village and to Wilton as a whole. The use of a gabled roofline, clapboard siding, double-hung windows, shed dormers, and a New England-style Victorian tower are all examples of how the proposed building fits into its surroundings and relates to the majority of buildings in the area.”
The developer’s plan includes what it describes as provision for safe pedestrian movement within and adjacent to the site. This includes a twelve-feet-wide sidewalk along Old Ridgefield Road and a walkway of ten to twelve feet in width adjacent to the first floor space, which the developer says would offer improved walkability and pedestrian connection to properties to the south and north. Street level would have an arcade that surrounds the ground floor retail spaces. The arcade at the rear of the building would have a view of the Norwalk River.
The developer also proposed improvements to the onsite stormwater management system and said there would not be outdoor dumpster storage. While saying that a few trees would be removed, the developer advised that 10 new trees and 150 new shrubs would be planted.
“We feel that 118 Old Ridgefield Rd. will be a welcome addition to the Town and will set a good example for future multi-family development in the neighborhood,” the developer told Wilton’s Planning and Zoning Commission.
