Local Zoning Controversy Raises Bigger Questions About Race and Discrimination

Jacqueline Rabe Thomas reports from Woodbridge, Connecticut, where a controversy about zoning is pushing a debate about property rights and neighborhood character into an intersection with racial justice.

In question is the development of a 1.5-acre property subject to the city's "snob zoning." Civil rights attorneys are asking for the city to throw out its exclusionary zoning to allow the development, and others like it, to proceed, while opponents have hired a legal team that includes conservative former gubernatorial candidate and land use attorney Tim Herbst to fight the zoning changes.

"What’s happening in this liberal suburb that borders segregated New Haven is a reflection of land-use decisions playing out in wealthy suburbs across the state. It’s also a result of the inertia at the state Capitol to resist any new housing laws," according to the article.

Adding to the context relevant to the Woodbridge controversy are recent changes in the State Legislature that are described in the article as a setback for proponents of zoning reform in the state.

Just last week, housing advocates and lawmakers who were hoping to build on the racial justice momentum spurred by the Black Lives Matter movement were dealt a blow when the leaders of the Senate Democratic Caucus dethroned the co-chair of the legislature’s Housing Committee - Saud Anwar, who is arguably the fiercest advocate in the General Assembly for overhauling state laws that some say allow exclusionary zoning to thrive.

The story is also of obvious relevance outside of Connecticut. Woodbridge is presented as a town with numerous Black Lives Matter signs to be found on lawns and a history of Democratic leadership, but information about the discriminatory effects (and intents) of exclusionary zoning have yet to sway public opinion on the fundamental questions of land use regulation.