On Tuesday, August 30, 2022, a group of plaintiffs filed a major civil rights lawsuit in Connecticut state court, challenging the zoning policies of the Town of Woodbridge, CT, a suburb adjacent to New Haven. Among the plaintiffs is Open Communities Trust, LLC (OCT), an affordable housing development trust launched by the Open Communities Alliance. The plaintiffs allege that Woodbridge's zoning violates the state’s Zoning Enabling Act and Fair Housing Act, as well as the due process, equal protection, and anti-segregation clauses of the state Constitution. Read more here!
Open Communities Alliance is a Connecticut-based civil rights organization that promotes access to opportunity for all people through education, organizing, advocacy, research, and partnerships. The Alliance works to build an urban-suburban interracial coalition to support policies that lead to housing choice. Join us!
In The News
Mar 29, 2023
Lawmakers have moved several zoning reform measures through the committee process this session, a major part of Democrats’ push to address the housing crisis in Connecticut. The Planning and Development Committee finished its last scheduled meeting of the legislative session Friday and passed House Bill 6890, also known as the...
Mar 01, 2023
The controversial Fair Share bill – affordable housing legislation that was killed in committee in 2021 – was back on the table at Tuesday’s Housing Committee public hearing along with a number of other bills up for discussion. “There’s a consensus that we are in an affordable housing crisis. Connecticut,...
Worth Reading
Jan 24, 2023
For 55 years, the Fair Housing Act, the landmark civil rights law meant to address housing discrimination, has required communities to certify that they are working to reduce government-sponsored segregation. But for decades, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) did little to ensure cities were actually following through....
Dec 01, 2022
Across Connecticut, thousands of government-subsidized affordable housing vouchers have gone unused in recent years, a Hearst Connecticut Media Group investigation found. Residents who’ve won lotteries for the vouchers, in some cases after waiting years, often find themselves mired in government red-tape and restrictions. The problem has worsened since the pandemic,...
