Amid heavy contention, the Orange County Commission passed a motion Tuesday night to send Disney’s massive affordable housing proposal for state approval.
Public comments had to be limited to just one minute to allow for the 54 people who signed up to speak. The packed room reflected a divided community, split between supporters and critics. Ultimately, a majority vote from the Board ruled over public concerns.
The project proposes 1,410 units on 80 acres of Disney-owned land to be built, maintained, operated, and owned by Florida development company The Michaels Organization. Disney is only donating the lot that will make it possible.
According to the company, Disney won’t be profiting and the project will be privately funded, not using or taking any government funding or assistance. The project is not also not asking for impact fee waivers, like most other affordable housing developments, so millions of dollars will end up going to schools, roads, and infrastructure instead.
The proposed space sits near State Road 429 and Hartzog Road, in West Orange. At the county meeting, developers said the mixed income complex will reserve more than 1,000 of the homes as affordable, with 11% of those available to those at the lowest allowable income level.
At the meeting Tuesday night, Tajiana Ancora-Brown, Disney’s external affairs director, said Disney is answering the county’s urgent call for more affordable and attainable housing.
“Leaders of Orange County and residents have identified affordable housing as one of the biggest needs in our region. We at Disney have developed a plan that can contribute to the solution, and we’re working very thoughtfully alongside prominent developers to create a place that strengthens the surrounding area, while making a real difference in people’s lives for years to come,” Ancora-Brown said.
Holding up protest signs, with some even bringing children to speak at the meeting, neighboring locals and residents of Horizon West cited concerns. Most said the project is too big and they worry that the increase in population will negatively impact already existing problems with overcrowded schools, jammed traffic roads, and overwhelmed first responders. Others cited concerns about decreasing property values and changing the character of the community with low-income housing, as well as lack of transportation and supporting infrastructure plans.
District 1 Commissioner Nicole Wilson was one of the Board members who opposed the motion. She said her constituents are being painted as “NIMBYs,” a term meaning “not in my backyard” and referring to groups of people who oppose low-income housing.
But Wilson said it’s not NIMBYism; she said their concerns are valid, and the area is just not ready for so many new people.
“We are not in a position to put more human beings in an area that isn't ready for them. I think we have this perception that affordable housing is the goal. And yes, it should be affordable, but it should also come with all the things we need for it to be successful,” Wilson said.
The project has the support of the Orlando Regional Realtors Association and Habitat for Humanity Greater Orlando & Osceola County.
“It's essential to recognize that when members of our community can't afford to live here, we face the risk of losing top talent," said Catherine Steck McManus, the local Habitat’s president and CEO. "Facing the housing crisis requires a collaborative effort from all sectors.”
Wilson became emotional a few times during the meeting, saying she was saddened to see an “us vs them” attitude. She said Disney and The Michaels Organization spent time and energy rallying homeless service providers and economic drivers to support their affordable housing project, pitting them against her residents.
The way Wilson sees it, the developers could have invested that same time and energy instead to get to know her community’s concerns and involve them in the process.
“We're all on board with housing, but those efforts to lobby really could have been used to lobby my residents, and bring my residents on board, and explain to them why good close-by housing is going to benefit all of us,” Wilson said.
District 5 Commissioner Emily Bonilla was the other dissenting vote. She asked for a motion to postpone to allow Disney to come up with more information regarding what she called a wrongful attempt to change the rules and boundaries of Horizon West to fit the project needs.
“I don't think staff should be recommending approval for a process in that way. I'm not saying that we should or shouldn't approve it; I’m saying they're trying to change the boundary so that it can be part of the properties that they can land-use,” Bonilla said. “They change the rules and say, ‘Well, now it's compliant to the rules because we changed it to make it compliant,’ and that just doesn't make any logical sense.”
In the end, Orange County Major Jerry Demings, who was a supporter, motioned for approval.
Wilson says her constituents will have another chance to speak up when the proposal comes back to the County to be adopted as an ordinance.
The development's first projected phase is set to be completed and open by 2026.
Lillian Hernández Caraballo is a Report for America corps member.
