ORLANDO, Fla. – Orange County Public Schools will host a community meeting Thursday to hear neighbors’ concerns about a proposed affordable/attainable housing development intended to help teachers and other OCPS employees.
The meeting is set for 5:30-6:30 p.m. on Thursday at Catalina Elementary School inside the media center, next to the site of the proposed development.
OCPS Deputy Superintendent Dr. Bridget Williams, who says she also lives near the proposed development, told News 6 she’s hopeful residents will support the plan once they meet with school officials face-to-face and learn more about the project.
“We need to come together and I guarantee you once they get to see us and they know us and they sit next to us at the meeting and they talk to us, we’ll be just fine,” said Dr. Williams.
The plan calls for a developer to build 100 apartments on an 8.5-acre parcel adjacent to Catalina Elementary School, with priority for OCPS employees. According to a staff report for the municipal planning board, the development will be called “Warwick Place.”
Neighbors in the Isle of Catalina neighborhood previously packed a City of Orlando zoning meeting to oppose the proposal, raising concerns about how an apartment complex would fit into their single-family neighborhood, the potential traffic impacts, and the impacts on nearby Clear Lake.
“What we’re against is having an apartment complex and a single-family neighborhood,” said Isle of Catalina resident Byron Hebert. “If they wanted to build single-family homes for the teachers, something like that, we would not be against that.”
Days later, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the latest version of the Live Local Act, which allows school districts to build affordable housing on 3-plus-acre properties regardless of current zoning.
The Live Local Act was signed into law in 2023, allowing eligible multifamily and mixed-use affordable housing developments to override local zoning in commercial, industrial, and mixed-use areas.
According to the Florida Housing Coalition (FHC )there are 234 total proposed projects in Florida and 24 projects already under construction.
The FHC has a dedicated Live Local Dashboards page that includes an interactive statewide map of all proposed projects.
Warwick Place is not yet on that Dashboard, but homeowners are still concerned about the increased traffic in the area and the potential 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 and meeting up with friends.”
Dr. Williams responded by referencing a recent study which showed no impact to Clear Lake. She also pointed out that an entrance could be routed behind the development, using L.B. Mcleod Rd, to avoid increased traffic in the Isle of Catalina neighborhood.
“We want to be good neighbors and a big part of this, if there’s an issue, let’s talk about it, let’s come together,” said Dr. Williams.