Are the Wilton Center Lofts a little too lofty?

Plans for multifamily housing at Wilton Center have come into potential conflict with the Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD), also casually referred to as the master plan, currently being developed by the Town of Wilton. The proposed housing development, tentatively named the Wilton Center Lofts, would consist of 32 one-, two- and three-bedroom units located at 12 Godfrey Place.

Presently, a three-story brick office building stands on the lot at the corner of Godfrey Place and Hubbard Road with two small parking lots separated by a stand of pine trees. Situated on the same block as the Wilton Library, the property occupies prime real estate in the core of Wilton Center.

The proposal calls for replacing the offices with a building which will take up most of the current lot, with ground floor covered parking and units located above. Two floors of standard sized units are to be capped by a “penthouse floor” with high, gabled ceilings for four stories and a height of 52 feet.

However, the POCD covering Wilton Center, while still only a draft and not fully in-force, limits structures to a maximum height of 48 feet. The POCD would also ban building footprints from taking up more than 50% of the total area of the lot they stand on, a limit which the proposed development would exceed by taking up 62% of the lot with the current design.

As a result, the developer and present owner Wilton Center Lofts LLC and its principles Matthew Finkle and Richard Granoff are seeking a variance. They hope to head off potential conflict with the new POCD even though it is not yet implemented. Without the variances, there is a risk that the project could become noncompliant while still under construction, opening the possibility of an even greater conflict over an incomplete building.

Attorney Elizabeth Suchy of Carmody Torrance Sandak & Hennessy LLP represented the applicants and emphasized the similarities between the submitted proposal and proposals for the POCD recently submitted by BFJ Consulting, the consulting firm Wilton has hired to help it draft a master plan.

“In many ways the proposal that we have before you is either consistent with what is suggested or very close to what is suggested,” said Suchy, pointing out the plan called for the inclusion of four-story structures to improve housing availability and density, and 1.35 ratio of parking spaces to housing units, while their submitted plan has a ratio of 1.3.

“We would like to work cooperatively with you to adjust the plan in a way that is not only beneficial to my client but also addresses the concepts, ideas and concerns that you have and were also identified by the BFJ mast plan,” Suchy said.

The developer Granoff explained that the most recently submitted paperwork did not include updated drawings due to the potential for conflict with the POCD.

“We are not confident that the plan is going to be approved anytime quickly or soon,” Granoff said. “And the development team is not in a position to wait for what we think is going to be six months to a year for it to get approved. So, we’d like to work with you, and we feel that our proposal is greatly in line with the spirit of the master plan.”

Granoff disputed several points within the proposed plan, noting that downtown areas typically have buildings occupying more than half of their total lot, and argued that the height restriction might encourage architecture the commission would normally reject.

“We have four stories with a gabled roof, and the only way for me to get four stories within the proposed 48 feet is to have a flat roof. My proposed architecture is gabled specifically to relate to New England architecture,” Granoff asserted. “I would think you’d want to promote the use of gabled structures in your master plan, and for four stories at 48 feet it is hard to make that happen.”

Planning and Zoning Board Chairman Richard Tomasetti disputed the idea that the POCD is not near completion.

“I don’t know where you got the idea it’s going to be six months,” Tomasetti said. “In our meetings last week, we were discussing that this will be delivered by the consultant by the end of the year complete with those regulations.”

A brief discussion among the commissioners led to the conclusion that the POCD could be in place as early as mid-January, though they admitted they could not provide an absolute guarantee to Granoff with regards to the timeframe.

Tomasetti also expressed concerns about some aspects of the design, particularly the presence of air conditioning units at the ground floor, and an entrance at the corner of the property.

“I hear what you’re saying about some of the things that might be a little wonky,” Tomasetti allowed, “but that is our plan for the entire downtown and not just your building”¦I urge you to stay the course. If you want to bring an 8-30g that’s within your rights but won’t make as much money but I think you want to have a nice building. I think that’s your objective here, to be a good landowner in our village.”

By invoking Connecticut General Statute 8-30g, Granoff would be able to bypass many of Wilton’s zoning regulations but would be required to designate much of the structure affordable housing. Granoff ultimately agreed with Tomasetti and said that he plans to edit and resubmit the proposal by the first week of January.