Wilton Reaching to Other Towns for Economic Development Ideas

The Board of Selectmen has been reaching out to towns around Connecticut for tips and ideas pertaining to economic development, with at least three Board members currently researching just as many towns.

Central to the planning appears to be the adjacent town of Ridgefield, where Wilton’s First Selectman William Brennan has been engaging in a series of discussions with Ridgefield’s First Selectman Rudy Marconi and Ridgefield’s Economic Development Commission Chairman Bob Knight. 

“We’re looking for more places to build alternate housing,” said Brennan at last Monday night’s Board of Selectmen meeting.

Even during the slow summer months, in which discussions can be hampered by vacation time, “we’re picking up a lot of good tips,” said Brennan 

Board member Hal Clark is looking into the town of Rocky Hill, a place which he said has “one of the lowest tax rates” because they "started economic development in the 70s.” Clark also said Rocky Hill’s tax abatement system is something worth looking into, but not necessarily the answer.

Meanwhile, Richard Creeth is studying the town of Windsor. He said he was looking into their tax abatement program, tax increment policy, and building fee reduction policy to glean what works best for that town, and then possibly for Wilton.

Citing an email from Windsor officials, Creeth that Windsor’s “land use and building safety permit process” is more effective than a “heavily laden incentive program.” He also mentioned road development and sewer expansion, two things already underway and planned for in Wilton.

The selectmen said that, generally, towns seemed willing to share information and were receptive to their inquiries, and it was clear that there more towns would be reached out to in the future. Brennan stressed that this regional reaching-out was an important step in finding new ways to bolster Wilton’s economy. 

“Something like 95 percent of Wilton is residential…. There’s no prairie out there to build up upon,” said Brennan. 

“It’s a hard town to build upon [because of its geography] and it’s an expensive town to build upon,” said Clark.

Perhaps this new research will discover new ways around these problems.