WILTON – The town’s Planning Board approved a permit for Jeffrey Dunham to build a barn in a resource protection zone when they met Thursday. Dunham lives on Orchard Drive.

Code Enforcement Officer Brenda Medcoff said Dunham initially asked her whether he would need a permit to build a structure that would have under $2,000 in materials in it. Medcoff originally told Dunham he did not need a permit, but would have to still meet setback requirements.

After Dunham began building the structure, he realized he would go over that amount. In addition, Medcoff was surprised to learn that the property was in a resource protection area and the structure would exceed the 500 square feet allowed. The building is 864 square feet.

Medcoff said she was surprised the area was considered resource protection because she saw no streams on the town map. But when she visited the site she did see minor wetland vegetation. Medcoff said the area Dunham is building on contains stable soils. Planners said they are also puzzled by the property’s classification, but said there does appear to be a stream on the outer fringes of the lot.

In other business, Medcoff said Irving Cirks and his wife approached Town Manager Peter Nielsen recently to ask why their East Wilton property was so highly taxed since they were told they could not build on it. Nielsen accompanied the couple in bringing the issue to Medcoff. Medcoff said the Cirks would like to build there if they are allowed to or have the taxes lowered if it is considered an unbuildable lot.

Records Medcoff has found so far do not specify why the Cirks were told their lot was unbuildable. There is some reference to exceeding the 20 percent allowed slope. Medcoff said she will check another history file on the property to see if she can find any additional information.

Planners agreed that if the Cirks could come up with a plan that meets the zoning ordinance criteria, they would be able to build there. Medcoff will refer the Cirks to the ordinance and tell them that if they can come up with an appropriate plan, they can bring it before the Planning Board for consideration. Medcoff will also give the Department of Environmental Protection a call because the property is in a resource protection area. If the lot is in fact unbuildable, they will need to take the tax issue up with the town assessor, officials said.

Planners also continued discussions about issues for the upcoming year. The issues they have been working on include taking information out of the zoning ordinance that conflicts with a newly enacted subdivision ordinance, and the possibility of increasing the number of hours Medcoff works in order to address a variety of violations in town. Medcoff presented planners with a breakdown of her hours at their last meeting for their review.

Other issues include changes to the land use table, the enforcement of junkyard violations, routes 2 and 4 access management, regulations around signs that advertise brand name products, shoreland expansions, and cluster development and possible ordinance changes for setback requirements from the water in the downtown area.