The Wilton Zoning Board of Adjustment approved a variance to allow a cluster development on Gibbons Highway.
The variance, requested by Glendale Homes, Inc., and owner Roger G. Chappell, asked for relief on the sole issue of roadway frontage. Cluster developments require 500 feet of frontage, while the proposed development has only 326.
The property is about 24 acres, bordered by the Souhegan River, and has a single home on it, currently. Site plans for the project indicate the cluster development would include 19 new housing units.
A previous version of the project was presented to the ZBA in August of 2019, when developers asked for a variance to allow them to market the property as a 55-and-older community, where the ordinance required age-restricted housing to be for residents 60 and above. The ZBA denied that variance, but the development is continuing, with plans to market to an older demographic.
Some neighbors said the increase of housing in the area could exacerbate an already significant traffic problem on the stretch of Gibbons Highway.
Susan Bogdan, who lives on nearby Intervale Road, said there are already issues.
“We know how difficult it can be to enter and exit,” Bogdan said. She said adding 19 new homes, each with potential two cars per unit, in the area would “make the danger on Route 101 exponentially worse.”
Bogdan also noted that while the lot might meet Department of Transportation requirements for sight-lines for cars to exit the property, based on the speed limit of the road, cars tend to travel faster than the posted limit in the area, making it difficult for cars to merge onto the highway safely.
Chad Branon of Fieldstone Land Consultants, who represented Glendale Homes during Tuesday’s hearing, told the board that the project would require Department of Transportation approval for the entryway, and the project would follow all recommendations.
The ZBA unanimously agreed to grant the variance, but did attach three restrictions to the approval. The construction of the housing units cannot be along Route 101, and must be set behind the current house on the property, all access to the development, as well as to the current building on the property is through a single access, and that the property not be subdivided further.
Branon said those terms were acceptable, and the board approved the variance for the frontage in a unanimous vote.
The project must still go through Planning Board review and approvals.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.