ORLANDO, Fla. – A new law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis could reshape neighborhoods across Florida.
The updated Live Local Act now allows school districts to build affordable housing on parcels that are three acres or larger-regardless of current zoning.
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As districts statewide shut down schools and consider what to do with unused land, some single-family neighborhoods could soon see affordable apartment developments built in place of former campuses.
Orange County Public Schools has already signed an agreement to turn an 8.5-acre parcel near Catalina Elementary into affordable housing, and neighbors in the Isle of Catalina community said they’re alarmed by what could come next.
Last year, OCPS signed a lease agreement with Warwick Commons last year for $1 a year for 99 years. In return, Warwick Commons agreed to build 100 apartment units on the site, with priority given to OCPS employees for 51 to 75 of those units.
The 8.5-acre parcel had been zoned for single-family residential. Neighbors say they were caught off guard by the plans and argue the proposed multi-family complex does not fit with the character of their community. Even so, the new Live Local law gives the district the green light to proceed.
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“Ideally, I would hope that we don’t end up with apartments in our backyard,” said resident Byron Hebert. “If it was up to me, you know, build single-family homes over there, develop a nice community for teachers, single-family homes that can integrate with our neighborhood and add to our neighborhood. We’re all for that. We have nothing wrong with some new neighbors, but an apartment complex here is not for us.”
Driving through the Isle of Catalina neighborhood, signs opposing the project line the streets. Residents say they’re concerned about increased traffic and the environmental impact on nearby Clear Lake.
“We invested our livelihoods to live on this lake,” said resident Ronen Sartena. “This lake is a gold mine for people enjoying fishing, meeting up with friends. We already live in a flooding zone. Our neighbors were hit pretty hard by one of the recent hurricanes and to add another 100-unit apartment complex right across the street without any studies just feels quite crazy to all of us.”
Neighbors also tell us, they want stronger guarantees that school employees will actually live there.
“I personally believe that saying these apartments are for teachers or school board people is not the truth,” said Isle of Catalina resident Cynthia Hammonds. “There are so many places that have been put up in the names of nursing, hospitals and within one year it’s open ground for anybody and everybody.”
Prior to the new legislation being signed into law, OCPS had been requesting a zoning change before the City of Orlando’s Municipal Planning Board. The district was asking to change the zoning from R-1A to R-3A to allow for the increased density.
More than 50 letters and speakers turned out to a June 16th, 2026 Municipal Planning Board meeting when OCPS was seeking the zoning change, but that zoning change request was pulled just days after Gov. DeSantis signed the latest version of the Live Local Act.
In a statement to News 6, OCPS spokeswoman Lorena Arias said, “The rezoning application was voluntarily withdrawn because a recently enacted amendment to Florida’s Live Local Act now allows qualifying affordable housing projects on school district-owned property to proceed through an administrative review process rather than a rezoning process. As a result, the rezoning is no longer necessary.
The proposed project itself has not been withdrawn. OCPS and its development partner intend to continue pursuing the project. The project remains focused on providing attainable workforce housing, including housing opportunities for eligible OCPS employees."
“Originally, when the Live Local Act came out, I was all for it,” said Hebert. “Commercial and industrial zone properties, you can build affordable housing, I have no problems with that. Obviously, they wanted to expand it so that they could use school board properties for something and I think the unintended consequences, they didn’t really think, are where are these schools located? And so many schools are located right in neighborhoods. So I think that’s something that probably wasn’t looked at the bigger picture.”
OCPS recently shut down seven campuses, but so far, the district has not revealed what it plans to do with that land or what changes other neighborhoods could see in the future.
“I think it’s just an unintended consequence of thinking something was good that ultimately turned out not to be,” said Herbert.