According to Orange County, a date has been set for the next public community meeting for Disney World’s affordable housing project. The meeting will take place on March 18, 2024 from 6-7pm at Horizon High School. The community meeting is a result of Disney’s promise to continue to engage with the community about the project.
The project crossed a hurdle two weeks ago when it narrowly passed a vote from the Orange County Planning and Zoning Commission. At the meeting, local residents spoke out against the project, and Disney agreed to another public meeting to discuss details.
Plans for the affordable housing project call for a mixed-income housing development with a majority of the units being set aside for families that make 50-100% of the Area Median Income (AMI). The total qualifying income range across different family sizes will be from $30,750 to $115,000.
In total, plans call for 1,410 units in the development, with 1,000 units dedicated to the affordable housing project. Of those 1,000 units, the majority will be dedicated to families in the 80% AMI range, which could be a household income of $49,150 up to nearly $90,000. Only 11% of the housing affordable housing units would be allocated for families at the lowest allowable AMI range.
While Cast Members would certainly be allowed to apply for housing, it will not be Cast Member-exclusive housing.
Following a September 2023 public meeting, Orange County officials said that they have received 104 responses that were against the project, and 17 responses in support of the project. During the September 2023 meeting, the majority of the 70 residents in attendance were against the project.
During the public comments portion of the February 2024 meeting, multiple local residents spoke out against the project. Concerns raised by the residents included increased traffic, higher density, school overcrowding, cell service coverage, and increased crime. Many of the residents noted that they were not against the idea of affordable housing in general, just that they didn’t want it in the Horizon West proposed location.
Following the currently scheduled March 18th public meeting, there is a transmittal public hearing tentatively scheduled for March 26th in front of the Board of County Commissioners. If approved, the project would be transmitted to the state for comments sometime in April 2024 before coming back to the county for two meetings seeking final approval. There are no dates for the final two meetings.
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