Safeguarding Woodbridge’s Future: Our Perspective on Development and Conservation

As members of the Woodbridge Conservation Commission, we are charged with helping protect the town’s natural assets — its forests, water resources, wildlife, and open spaces — for the benefit of residents today and for future generations. In recent weeks, we have shared our expertise both on a proposed apartment development at 804 Fountain Street and on the draft 2025 Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD).

804 Fountain Street

We strongly recommended that the Town Plan and Zoning Commission reject the 804 Fountain Street application. The property lies within an ecologically valuable corridor that includes Bishops Pond, the Yale Preserve, and the former Country Club of Woodbridge. It features ancient bedrock formations, undisturbed forest, and rare young-forest and grassland habitat. These lands provide carbon storage, regulate water quality, and serve as migration routes for wildlife.

The proposed development would fragment these habitats, increase impervious surfaces, and degrade adjacent waterways. It would also undermine climate resilience by releasing stored carbon and reducing the town’s ability to buffer heat and flooding. In our view, this project is inconsistent with both Woodbridge’s draft POCD and the State’s conservation priorities.

Read our full statement on 804 Fountain Street (PDF) to learn more.

The draft POCD

Our concerns about the Fountain Street application are linked to our broader concerns about the draft POCD. In its current form, the plan puts disproportionate emphasis on housing, while minimizing the conservation and natural-resource priorities that residents consistently identify as most important.

We believe the plan must highlight what makes Woodbridge unique: extensive open space, clean water resources, and a landscape that supports both our town and the wider New Haven region. It should balance housing needs with stewardship of farmland, forests, and watersheds, and it should integrate conservation voices into the process — something that has been lacking so far.

Read a draft of our full comments on the draft POCD (PDF) to learn more.

UPDATE at 7:30 PM on 9/8/2025 - Read the full text of the Conservation Commission Letter to the BOS re: the POCD.

A call for collaboration

We have urged the town to pause adoption of the draft POCD and instead initiate a more inclusive revision process. This could include forming a steering committee with representation from TPZ, Conservation, and other boards, or directly collaborating on a new draft that truly balances conservation with development.

Woodbridge’s residents have made their priorities clear: preserving open space, supporting schools, and pursuing sustainable growth. We stand ready to bring our expertise to help the town achieve those goals.

— The Woodbridge Conservation Commission

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