The Wilton Select Board voted 3-2 June 22 to restore the original Main Street closure for the Blueberry Festival, reversing a June 2 decision that had scaled back the Friday night arrangement after concerns from a downtown business.

The restored plan closes the festival area from 5-11 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7, and from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8. The closure is to be managed as part of the town’s Blueberry Festival, with downtown businesses remaining responsible for their licensed alcohol-service areas. This year’s festival has a Western theme.

The reversal came after Police Chief Ethan Kyes said the narrower June 2 arrangement could impede emergency access, while a full closure would allow responders to remove barricades and use Main Street if needed.

The board’s June 2 action followed concerns that Salt Marsh Farm had not been consulted before the original closure was approved and that the arrangement could limit parking and handicap access for its customers.

Jeff Jansson of Wilton Hardware and Ambition Brewing asked the board Monday to return to the earlier plan, saying the Friday night event had operated safely for four years and had become a popular downtown gathering.

“For the last four years, it’s been one of the safest, most vibrant nights in the summer downtown of downtown Wilton,” Jansson said.

Jansson said the event brings families, food trucks and live music downtown and asked the board to treat it as a town and Blueberry Festival event rather than placing its operation on private businesses.

A representative of Salt Marsh Farm said the larger closure had created customer access and handicap-parking problems in past years. The representative said the business had made accommodations but remained concerned about being blocked from direct vehicle access during the festival.

The board initially discussed retaining the June 2 plan and extending Saturday’s closure through the fireworks. That proposal was withdrawn after Kyes said he considered the full closure safer.

“I think the safest way to do it is to block it all off,” Kyes said.

Kyes said emergency responders could remove barricades and use the closed roadway if needed, rather than navigating a narrow lane shared by vehicles and pedestrians.

The final vote restored the April 21 proposal, which board members said had been presented by downtown businesses and used in prior years. The action applies to both Friday and Saturday of the festival days.

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