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MAYOR BUDDY DYER RECOGNIZED FOR BREAKING THE BARRIERS TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN THE CITY BEAUTIFUL

City of Orlando One of 14 Cities Across the Country
and Only Florida City
Named for Trend-Setting Efforts to Increase Housing Opportunities

(June 29, 2005) Orlando, Florida – Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer visited the Nation’s capitol today to be recognized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the City’s efforts to provide affordable housing programs for it’s citizens.

Orlando was one of only 14 cities across the nation presented with the 2005 Robert L. Woodson, Jr. Award by HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson at their headquarters in Washington, D.C. The Robert L. Woodson award is designed to recognize achievements by local governments to reduce or eliminate regulatory barriers and promote affordable housing.

"All across this country, local leaders like Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, are answering the call and demonstrating they can get the job done when it comes to cutting red tape and encouraging the production of affordable housing," said HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson. "I hope other communities around the nation look to these places for creative ways to reduce regulatory barriers, making it easier for working families to afford a home of their own."

The City of Orlando’s aggressive work in reducing excessive and exclusionary regulatory requirements that discourage the construction or rehabilitation of housing garnered HUD’s attention for this award.

“Through the hard work and dedication of our City staff and community partners, we have been able to reduce or eliminate many of the regulatory barriers that inhibit low-income, City residents from purchasing homes,” said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer. “New housing regulations and programs implemented within the City have resulted in more than 6,000 affordable housing units being built, and a third of these units have been built entirely by the private sector with just local regulatory and related incentives.”

Programs such as the State Housing Initiative Program (SHIP) have increased the City of Orlando’s resources to participate in a wide range of affordable housing activities including: new construction, first time homebuyer education, owner-occupied housing rehabilitation and post disaster foreclosure prevention. This year alone, nearly 100 first-time homebuyers have utilized the City’s down payment assistance program to purchase their first home.

A recently established program – Expedited Affordable Housing Certification – for all affordable housing projects, assists any for-profit and not-for-profit developer seeking to develop affordable housing, and who would benefit from incentives provided by the City.

These incentives include reduced growth management and land development application fees, alternative design guidelines, affordable housing impact fee grants, transportation impact fee exemptions, school impact fee discounts, non-profit impact fee grants, capacity reservation set-aside, reduced capacity reservation fees, and density bonuses.

The City’s Affordable Housing Advisory Committee (AHAC) plays an active role in the promotion of affordable housing, reviewing land development regulations as well as considering policies, procedures, and ordinances prior to their adoption for their adverse impact on affordable housing.

An Affordable Housing Expeditor position has also been established at the City to guide affordable housing projects through the affordable housing certification and development process. Additionally, the City’s permitting process has now been thoroughly streamlined thereby allowing affordable housing projects to move rapidly through each level of review.

For full details on the affordable housing programs provided by the City of Orlando’s Housing department, please visit www.cityoforlando.net. Also, log on to www.hud.gov/news for a full-length news release on the Robert Woodson L. Jr. Award and the winning 14 cities.

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