A wealthy town is furious after officials approved an affordable housing project that will bring an enormous apartment complex to their ritzy enclave.
Woodbridge is one of the richest areas in Connecticut, with an average household income of nearly $160,000, as of 2022.
The charming town is filled with single-family properties and is home to one of the state’s best elementary schools.
Officials have approved the plan for a 96-unit apartment complex on six acres of land, located at 804 Fountain Street, which will be the largest of its type in the area.
Roughly 15 percent of the building’s units will be set aside as affordable housing, with half of those being leased to people making under 80 percent of Woodbridge’s average income, the Hartford Courant reported.
The other half will be reserved for people making less than 60 percent.
Wealthy residents claim the new building will cause excessive traffic in the area located near the Woodbridge-New Haven line.
They also worry that the influx of new residents will increase enrollment in the public schools, including in the town’s only elementary, Beecher Road School.
Just 1.4 per cent of Woodbridge’s accommodation is affordable housing, according to the Courant, well shy of the 10 percent mandated for cities and towns by the state of Connecticut.
Woodbridge is one of the wealthiest towns in Connecticut, with an average household income of nearly $160,000, as of 2022
Officials have approved the plan for a 96-unit apartment complex to be built on six acres of land, located at 804 Fountain Street, but residents aren’t happy with it
The average home price in Woodbridge is around $665,000, according to Zillow, making it unaffordable to many who work in the town, such as teachers and retail workers.
Residents have also voiced concerns that it could cause environmental problems, such as stormwater runoff.
Deb Lovely told the commission last year that she worried about the ‘runoff and drainage problems coming down the steep Fountain Street Hill’ and how it could cause damage to the foundation of her home.
‘This is a terrible location for such a project,’ she said, according to the New Haven Independent.
Rob Rosasco said he is concerned the builders would have to remove a large rock right near the highway in order to construct the property.
‘There are 3,900 three-axel dump trucks that will have to pull the rock out of this property in order to execute the applicant’s plan,’ he told News 12 Connecticut in October.
‘It’s a significant amount of traffic,’ he said, referring to the roadway behind it. ‘You can see why there are some environmental concerns.’
However, the zoning commission said: ‘There is not substantial evidence within the record to support that construction of this project is reasonably likely to have the effect of unreasonably polluting, impairing or destroying the public trust in the air, water or other natural resources of the state.’
A rendering of the 96-unit building. Locals worry the building could cause storm runoff, excessive traffic, and an influx of students into their public schools
Officials said there is no environmental concerns where the project is set to be built
Rob Rosasco is one of the many residents with concerns about the new housing project
The project does follow all the Woodbridge Zoning Regulations, the commission said.
The four-story Fountain Street apartment building will contain 16 studio units, 55 one-bedrooms, and 25 two-bedrooms, according to the New Haven Register.
Lowest priced studios will start from $969 per month, with rent around $1,132 a month for two-bedroom apartments.
Fountain Ridge LLC, which will own the building, said the new housing will bring in much-needed multifamily options to Woodbridge.
Democrats have argued the town of 9,000 has been reluctant to change for too long.
State law recently changed to allow more affordable housing to be built in the Constitution State, which Woodbridge residents worry will change the landscape of their town.
The law, known as 8-30g, allows developers to bypass local zoning laws in towns that have less than 10 percent affordable housing.
However, the Fountain Street property does not qualify under 8-30g as less than 13 percent of its units will be priced at affordable rates. The law requires projects to have a minimum of 30 percent affordable units to qualify.
Another proposal, 27 Beecher Road, located near the elementary school, does fall under the law.
Another plan suggests converting the town’s old country club, which sits on 155 acres, into housing after Woodbridge purchased it for $7 million in 2009.