Sufficient water supplies are vital to a town’s ability to provide fire protection services. Because the Town of Wilton is largely rural and lacks a community-wide municipal water system, fire protection for new developments must depend on other sources of water. Accordingly, under the circumstances set forth in these regulations, fire cisterns shall be installed in new commercial, industrial and/or residential developments so that there is an adequate water supply available to support fire protection operations.
Cisterns shall be installed, in accordance with these regulations, in (1) any subdivision that creates four or more lots, and (2) other developments that, in the determination of the Fire Chief, may not have an adequate water supply to provide year-round fire protection. To the extent that they apply, these regulations shall be addressed specifically in the subdivision and/or site plan review process and nothing contained herein shall be deemed to supersede any of the requirements of the subdivision or site plan regulations.
Where they will, in the opinion of the Fire Chief, provide adequate fire protection in the absence of a cistern, Sprinkler Systems may be installed in lieu of a cistern.