Wilton goes 'wet' all the way and says yes to Charter revisions

Written by Justin Reynolds
Wednesday, 04 November 2009 14:20

It’s a bird! It’s a plane!

It’s a liquor store in Wilton Center?

On Tuesday, voters approved both questions — whether the town should permit the sale of alcohol in package stores and whether the town should approve the proposed charter revisions — on the ballot.

The liquor question received 2,363 “yes” votes (56.7%) to 1,801 “no” votes (43.2%), while the charter question received 2,750 “yes” votes (75.9%) to 872 “no” votes (24%).

“I’m obviously happy with the result and thankful for all the people who worked really hard to get the question on the ballot and thankful for the people who came out and voted,” said Mitch Ancona, the spokesman for Wilton for Wine — the group behind getting the question on the ballot — who owns and operates Ancona’s Wines and Liquor on Branchville Road in Ridgefield. “Also, I haven’t lost sight of the fact that a fair amount of people still didn’t want it to happen. So personally, moving forward, I am going to try to embrace whatever their concerns are.”

Bob Russell, former first selectman who is chairman of the Charter Commission, said he was “very pleased” that the charter revisions were passed by the voters, and with 76% of the vote.

“We worked hard on it,” he said of the commission. “In fact, I think we made very few changes. Wilton is reluctant to make changes quickly, which is part of the reason the sale of alcohol took so many years.”

A question concerning the sale of alcohol in restaurants in Wilton was put before voters in 1992. Voters approved “dampening” the town then.

“It took a long time to get that passed, and now people seemed to be ready to go ahead and take the next step” and allow alcohol sales in package stores, Mr. Russell said.

Mr. Russell said changes in the charter — which include changing the terms of selectmen from two to four years, while also staggering them; holding a separate election for the first selectman and members of the Board of Selectmen; term limiting members of the Board of Selectmen, but not the first selectman; allowing a supermajority on the Board of Selectmen (four out of five votes) to overrule a Board of Finance line item reduction; and requiring the signatures of 2% of the electorate in order to call a town meeting — are “small, but important changes.” They go into effect on Dec. 1.

Mr. Ancona said he wishes that anyone who has concerns about liquor stores in town would come visit him at his store in Ridgefield and express them to him.

“My plan is to open a store and hopefully express to [those with concerns] that many of their concerns are my concerns also,” Mr. Ancona said. “As a parent of two kids, and being in this industry for so long, underaged drinking is constantly on my radar. It’s always a concern of mine.”

Mr. Ancona also said he will make sure his liquor store reflects the character of the town.

“As far as opening a store that fits sort of the feel and thought patterns of the town — I’m also very aware of that and I’m sure I can open a store that fits in,” he said.

Changes in the town’s liquor laws will go into effect on Monday, Dec. 7, according to Sally Poundstone, chair of the Planning and Zoning Commission. According to state law, a town may have one package store for every 2,500 residents, meaning Wilton could potentially have seven liquor stores in it.