A map of 10 Rowell St. details plans for a marina on the property off of Wilson Lake. The application for Wilson Lake Marina, LLP, was denied at the Wilton Planning Board’s meeting Thursday, Aug. 26. Screenshot
WILTON — The Wilton Planning Board denied an application for Wilson Lake Marina, LLP, following the board’s finding of facts session on Thursday, Aug. 26.
The board will adopt a formal written decision on the application for a marina at 10 Rowell Street at their next meeting.
The board has faced a controversial journey with Wilson Lake Marina spanning many months.
Since the application was submitted in the spring, the Planning Board requested a moratorium on commercial development on Wilson Lake (which the Select Board denied), the town approved zoning ordinance amendments that directly impact the project, and a lawsuit was filed against the town of Wilton on behalf of Wilson Lake Marina. In that time, residents of the town and advocates of Wilson Lake have largely spoken out against the proposed marina.
The lawsuit requests that the courts make the newly approved amendments “null and void” and accuses planning board members of showing bias against the project.
In order to make a decision on an application, the planning board went through the findings of fact for the application, a process to review the facts surrounding an application, such as the dates it was reviewed and its compliance with municipal and state law.
In that process, the board discusses 21 standards and how the application does or does not meet them. These standards include “preservation of the existing landscape,” “community impact,” and “shoreland protection.”
During the findings of fact, the board found that Wilson Lake Marina’s application did not meet five review standards: “the relation of the proposed building to the environment and to neighboring buildings”; “health and safety”; and accordance to Tables A and B and Article 5.1 subsection E on Wilton’s zoning ordinance.
The board voted that Wilson Lake Marina did not meet four standards due to amendments to the zoning ordinance adopted at the June 14 town meeting.
According to town documents, the amendments were approved by the Department of Environmental Protection on July 29. The board was awaiting action by the DEP before taking further action on Wilson Lake Marina’s application.
One of the amendments added a definition for “marinas” and prohibits them from existing “within 200 feet of a developed swim area” and “a boat launching facility” under table A4, Outdoor Resource Base Uses.
Another amended the “Performance Standards” article to rule “no more than one pier, dock, wharf, or similar structure extending or located below the normal high-water line of a water body or within a wetland is allowed on a single lot: except that when a single lot contains at least twice the minimum shore frontage…”
The waterfront for 10 Rowell Street is within 200 feet of the public boat launch at Stinchcomb Lane and “does not meet the minimum shore frontage of 200 feet.” According to the board, they have 139 feet of shore frontage.
In response to the application denial, Tom Dubois of Main-Land Development Consultants said, “I can’t help but point out that without this ordinance, you’d basically approve this application.”
Town Attorney Sally Daggett anticipates the decision will be appealed to the Board of Appeals.
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