Preserving Community in North Wilton

It's not often that people turn out en masse to unanimously support a town initiative, but such was the case at Old Town Hall Monday night.

The Historic District and Property Commission held a public hearing to gauge residents' opinions on the proposal to add 20 properties to Wilton's Historic District Number Six, which is centered in Georgetown. The move is designed to protect older residences and buildings with historical value, including the Gilbert and Bennett School.

"This is one of the biggest turnouts we've ever had at one of our meetings," said Commission Chairman Janet Foster.

According to Foster, residents in the specified portion of north Wilton came to her and committee member Carol Russell and asked to become part of the Georgetown Historic District. Following Monday's public hearing, the 18 residents who own the 20 properties in question will receive secret ballots, which they are asked to fill out and return.

Russell stressed the importance of filling out the ballots correctly. She explained that each person that has an ownership stake in a property in the proposal's coverage area will get a vote that is equal to their share of the ownership. So a couple would each get the equivalent of half a vote.

Nevertheless, each ballot (whether a full share or a fraction of one) must be mailed individually within 15 days of its receipt. Russell said it would be "an easy vote," consisting of either a yes or no answer, and will likely not come until the end of January, as committee members are waiting to hear back from the state's Commission on Culture and Tourism for its feedback.

If the voters achieve at least 66 percent consent, the motion will pass to the Board of Selectmen for approval (and will require a second public hearing at that time).

"The Board of Selectmen appoints this commission and we strongly support what they do because they're about preservation," said First Selectman Bill Brennan, who attended the hearing. "The town owns ten acres there [in Georgetown]...and as we look as this property in northern Wilton, we see that we don't have much town property. So it's important that we preserve it so it can be put to the community's use."

Aside from individual residences, the most important building in question is the Gilbert and Bennett School, which has recently hosted a number of Wilton events, including the Garden Club's wildly successful and widely attended (500+ residents) Flower Show.

"For those of us in north Wilton, Georgetown is downtown," said resident Paula Burdy. "We rely on that area as a center for us...we take great pride in it...as a member of the Wilton Garden Club, we have very recently used the building for our flower show and it was certainly the most successful show we've ever had...we think it's very important that the neighborhood and the school become part of the historic district so they can be maintained for the future as they are."

"I've spent many years, as a 23-year resident of Wilton, sitting on soccer fields near Gilbert and Bennett," said Wiltonian Linda Schmidt. "My first time inside the school was for the garden show and I was blown away by the potential in that building for community use."

"There have been many events at the school, which have just been so lovely," said Redding resident Susan Jackson, who is also the vice president of the Georgetown Village Restoration Commission. "It's such a special place and when I go out walking, I'm in my community and it's a wonderful feeling that I don't think are in many places anymore. So to preserve this as a historical site...it's lovely to have the idea of everything staying very nicely done...I would really support this as a non-Wilton resident."

Many Georgetown residents, be they from Wilton, Redding, or any of the four towns that converge in Georgetown, stressed their love of the feeling of community there and felt the proposal would further this end and maintain the quaint, tightly-knit feel of the district.

"We purchased our home six years ago and one of the reasons we purchased it was it was just a lovely community," said Matt Keough. "As time passes, it's important to really secure the safety of [Georgetown] as a historic area...because as real estate trends go, an area such as what we have in Georgetown could really end up in very bad shape.'

Wilton's Planning and Zoning Committee did not unanimously support the proposal because it was concerned about the "implications of including a town-owned asset," referring to Gilbert and Bennett School. But, otherwise, "there was great appreciation for the special nature of the neighborhood."

An added bonus to the proposal, should it pass, is that some residents might receive a tax abatement. The abatement would be possible for residents that can prove to the town that their current level of taxation would jeopardize the historic value of the property, though Russell stated this would not be a chief reason for its passage.