Disney’s affordable-housing project moves forward

Despite objections from many Horizon West residents, the Orange County Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5-1 Sept. 19 to move Disney’s affordable-housing project forward to the Orange County Board of County Commissioners for final discussion at its Oct. 8 meeting. 

“The most important thing that we want the commission to know today is that Disney is trying to help their neighbors and help the Central Florida community,” Julie Kendig-Schrader, Greenberg Traurig, said on behalf of the applicant at the P&Z meeting. “We want to help the teachers, the police officer, grocery-store employees, the hospitality employees and folks who are just starting out in their career, to have a safe and affordable place to live. This is a really important private initiative that will contribute significantly to the supply of affordable housing in Central Florida, and we hope that you help to make that possible.”

Despite the changes project leaders have made to the proposal to reassure concerned residents, community members have continued to express their opposition.

One resident leading the charge is Sarah Hibbs, who has created a petition against the project, which has gained hundreds of signatures. 

“This project threatens the local environment and quality of life due to the inappropriate location and lack of adequate infrastructure,” the petition reads. “The area of Horizon West is overdeveloped, is already saturated with apartment development and infrastructure is not adequate to support the additional 1,400 homes.”

Instead, the petition supports focusing on constructing affordable-housing adjacent to the Disney College Program housing at Flamingo Crossings, where the residents say necessary infrastructure already is established.  

“This area provides the aspects necessary to support the needs of affordable housing residents, including nearby walkable restaurants and services, as well as public transportation,” the petition reads. “This is consistent with the Orange County 10-year action plan, reducing reliance on automobiles, and creating ‘target areas of access and opportunity’ in areas close to transit and jobs. While this would still impact various aspects of Horizon West, the impacts to the overburdened infrastructure and existing residents would be significantly diminished.”

Horizon West residents also are requesting several concessions from Disney: a commitment to cease any further construction or annexation of projects into Horizon West, assurance that no occupancy of the housing project will be allowed until all infrastructure improvements are fully completed, a mandate for transparent and honest oversight by Disney of the project and The Michaels Organization’s management to ensure continued upkeep of the facility, and compliance with proposed affordable-housing percentages.  

HOW DID WE GET HERE?

Walt Disney World first announced its plans to bring a new affordable-housing development to Southwest Orange in April 2022. The housing is being constructed in partnership with The Michaels Organization, the developer selected to build, own and operate the project.

The proposed parcel sits on 114.23 acres on Hartzog Road, generally bounded by Hartzog to the north and east, and State Road 545 to the west. 

Applicant Kathy Hattaway, Walt Disney Imagineering, had requested  to develop up to 1,410 apartments in the area. The number of units since has been reduced to 1,369.

The applicant’s request is to amend the Future Land Use Map to apply the Village FLUM designation through the expansion of the Village H boundary. 

The concurrent request includes rezoning the land to Planned Development District and to assign Horizon West Special Land Use Map designation of Apartment District. The property currently is zoned Reedy Creek Improvement District.

The county hosted two community meetings — one in September 2023 and a second in March 2024 — where many residents raised concerns about traffic and transportation, school capacity, location, and affordability and attainability.

Months of conversations relating to the project came to a head at a County Commission meeting shortly after the second community meeting. 

After several hours of discussion, the commission voted to move the controversial project forward with a 4-2 vote.

Mayor Jerry L. Demings was the one to make the motion to transmit the housing plan to the state for review, a mandatory step in the approval process.

District 1 Commissioner Nicole Wilson and Commissioner Emily Bonilla voted no to Disney’s request. Both commissioners asked for a delay so more information could be gathered. 

WHERE WE ARE NOW

At the P&Z meeting, Brian Forster, LandDesign Orlando, spoke on the changes the project leaders have made since hearing the community feedback, including lessening the number of units and slightly consolidating the buildings for increased open space. The developer will use the two additional acres fronting Avalon Road to construct a community park, which will be open to anyone from the public to enjoy.

Mohammed Abdallah, traffic mobility consultant, said a traffic signal with a crosswalk — which includes dedicated left and right turn lanes into the property — and a new median opening on Avalon Road is warranted and will help facilitate interconnectivity between the community and adjacent retail. 

In addition, The Michaels Organization will pay millions of dollars in impact fees to be used for infrastructure updates.

“We do have relief schools in the pipeline; one actually will open next year,” Orange County School Board Member Pam Gould said when speaking in support of the project. “I was doing a rezoning meeting, and the Disney site was included in the plan yesterday as we were calculating the numbers for relief. As you all know, the way relief works in Florida is we don’t build schools in advance of development, so the schools are opened as development goes along. … From the attainable-housing side, I have for the last several years been championing this for our own team members at OCPS. Right now, I have trouble getting bus drivers to work on the west side of town, because it is too expensive for them to travel to get their buses, and then the time it takes to get back. So, attainable housing and the more options that we can find are essential for our infrastructure and for our community. We want our teachers and even our graduates to be able to come back to their communities and live, and right now there’s not too many places in West Orange County where that can happen.”

P&Z District 1 Commissioner David Boers made a motion for denial of the project, but the motion died without a second. 

Following P&Z approval, The Michaels Organization hosted a series of four virtual meetings to collect additional community feedback, which kicked off Sept. 27 and continued Oct. 1, with additional planned dates scheduled for after press time Oct. 3 and 4. 

Representatives from both The Michaels Organization and Disney gave updates on the project, answered questions submitted by residents, and opened the conversation up for additional comments and questions.

Although residents in attendance thanked the organizations for allowing community feedback and answering questions, many still voiced opposition. 

“Our goal remains to help solve and contribute to what Orange County leaders have identified as one of the top issues in our region,” Walt Disney World representatives said in a prepared statement.