State Housing Debate Could Reshape Growth in Woodbridge

Earlier this year, state lawmakers passed House Bill 5002, a wide-ranging housing bill that would have required each Connecticut city and town to plan and zone for a “fair share” of affordable housing. For full details — including bill text, legislative actions, testimony in favor and opposed, and voting history — visit the CT General Assembly website’s page on HB 5002.

During the Woodbridge Housing Committee meeting on June 4, 2025, members noted that the expected fair-share allocation of affordable housing for Woodbridge under HB 5002 would be 332 units over the next decade.

Governor Ned Lamont vetoed the measure on June 23, 2025, after receiving thousands of emails in opposition. Since then, legislative leaders have said they expect the issue to return to the Connecticut General Assembly in a special session this fall.

According to reporting by CT Insider last week, Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff and House Majority Leader Jason Rojas said during a recent roundtable that without action, only the wealthy will be able to afford to live in much of the state. Rojas stated that lawmakers need to move past opposition and adopt a statewide plan to increase the availability of affordable homes.

Republican legislators, including Rep. Joe Zullo of East Haven and Rep. Tony Scott of Monroe, countered that state mandates are a “one size fits all” approach that undermine local autonomy and saddle towns with legal battles under existing law (known as 8-30g) when developers propose large apartment buildings, according to the article. (For the full legal language and details, see Conn. Gen. Stat. § 8-30g, the state’s affordable housing appeals statute.)

How would the state-level debate impact Woodbridge?

According to an analysis published by the CT Mirror on May 27, 2025, under House Bill 5002 Woodbridge — listed with 3,408 housing units — would have been assigned a fair-share housing target of planning for 332 affordable units.

HB 5002 created a two-part obligation: towns would first be required to plan and zone for their full fair-share number, and then to ensure that at least 25% of that number was produced as actual housing units within ten years.

The measure did not explicitly tie compliance to state grants such as the Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP), but lawmakers acknowledged during debate that enforcement tools — including possible funding conditions — could become part of future versions of the policy. This aspect is expected to be among the issues addressed in the special session this fall.

With this two-part obligation in mind, of the 332 units included in the fair-share analysis for Woodbridge, at least 83 would have been required to be built over the next decade, based on the bill’s formula. By comparison, housing production in Woodbridge has historically been modest. The draft Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD) notes that construction peaked in the late 1990s and slowed through the late 2010s.

The most recent permit data from the state Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) shows an increase in activity. Between 2020 and 2022, Woodbridge issued 26 permits — 16 for single-unit homes and 10 for two-unit structures. In 2023 and 2024, another 54 permits were issued, most associated with an age-restricted luxury housing development on Bradley Road built by Toll Brothers, known as The Regency.

Affordable units are typically created as a portion of larger mixed developments rather than on their own. As a result, meeting the affordable housing target in HB 5002 would have entailed the construction of many additional market-rate homes in order to reach the required number of affordable units.

At its typical pace in recent years, excluding the spike from The Regency development, Woodbridge has added about 8 to 9 new homes per year. At that rate, the town would produce roughly 85–90 total units over the next decade. If affordable housing made up, for example, 20% of those units, the town would add only about 17–18 affordable units in ten years — far fewer than the 83-unit production target in HB 5002.

To reach 83 affordable units at a 20% set-aside, total production would have to be about 415 units over ten years. That would mean nearly a 12% increase in the town’s housing stock, or about 42 units per year — roughly five times faster than the town’s current building pace.

In terms of location, Woodbridge zoning updates in recent years have allowed accessory dwelling units (ADUs) throughout town and created the option for denser development along the town’s limited water and sewer service lines. Outside of the West River neighborhood / Business District adjacent to the border with New Haven, however, the absence of public transit and sidewalks — which would make grocery stores, medical offices, and other amenities accessible within a safe walking distance — continues to limit the feasibility of affordable housing development.

Fiscal considerations in Woodbridge

Woodbridge raises about 94% of its annual budget through residential property taxes, a much higher percentage than nearby towns with stronger commercial districts, such as Orange. This means that almost all of the cost of running the town — including schools, police, fire, road maintenance, and other services — is carried by homeowners.

If the population were to expand significantly, as could happen with several hundred new housing units, the demand for services would rise. More families typically mean additional costs in the school system, higher use of public safety services, and greater pressure on infrastructure. In towns with larger commercial tax bases, those expenses can be partly offset by business tax revenue. In Woodbridge, however, the costs would fall largely on homeowners.

This comes at a time when many residents are already experiencing higher tax bills. As reported earlier this month in the Chronicle (“Woodbridge Tax Bills Rise Following Revaluation and Budget Increase,” Aug. 11, 2025), the combination of the state-mandated revaluation and the town's budget-setting process resulted in the amount to be raised by taxes increasing 4.78% over the prior year and led to a new mill rate of 32.62. The impact on property tax bills sparked significant discussion among residents about the town’s tax structure and spending priorities.

Looking ahead

These issues are also under discussion in the town’s draft Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD), which lays out a vision for Woodbridge over the next decade. The POCD is required by state law and updated every ten years, addressing housing, land use, transportation, and fiscal planning.

Town officials are inviting public input as the draft moves forward, giving residents the opportunity to weigh in on priorities and ideas that will shape Woodbridge’s future. The Board of Selectmen’s Public Hearing on the draft POCD will continue on Wednesday, September 3, 2025, at 6:00 PM in the Town Hall Central Meeting Room.

The draft plan is available for review online at the Town website. Written comments may be submitted to the Selectman’s Office by email until 3:00 pm on September 3, or presented in person at the hearing.