Orange County’s no-growth policies forced Deseret Ranch’s hand

In a classic case of overreaction, one of Florida’s fastest-growing counties has recently embraced an anti-growth posture — and it’s come back to bite them.

The Orange County government’s attempt to block further growth in its remaining undeveloped areas has had a predictable result: Private landowners are taking steps to add their property to the City of Orlando.

Now, the county’s largest private landholder, with a seven-decade record of sensitive stewardship of the region’s abundant natural resources, is saying “enough is enough.”

Deseret Ranches, a sweeping cattle, citrus, and timber operation that occupies much of the open area between Orlando and the Space Coast, has filed to voluntarily annex more than 52,400 acres into the city. It seems the county’s foot-dragging on reasonable approaches for long-range planning‚ turbo-charged by its decision to place a rural boundary proposal and annexation restrictions on the November ballot, has driven Deseret to seek greener pastures.

Orange County’s no-growth pack are sure to spin Deseret as just another typical developer looking to pave paradise to put up a whole new city. But that ignores the 70-year track record of Deseret Ranch, a holding of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

While countless developers over the years have sought to cash in on the relentless growth of the Orlando metro area, Deseret has remained what it has been since the 1950s: A working ranch that recognizes it depends on caring for the land to sustain its livelihood.

Clearly, Deseret also recognizes that people won’t stop moving to the area, drawn by the lure of Central Florida’s weather, natural amenities, economy and more. And those people will have to live and work somewhere. So, Deseret’s parent company, Farmland Reserve, has asked for the ranch acreage to become part of the City of Orlando so it can conduct what it calls “sustainable, long-range, smart-growth planning.” The bulldozers are not on the way, and won’t be for years, but this action shows foresight and a recognition that at some point, it will be necessary to accommodate the new people. The idea is to do it the right way, avoiding the haphazard sprawl that has come to define too much of the region.

Orange County won’t be pleased losing jurisdiction over such a vast expanse. But it has no one to blame but itself.

For years, the county has stalled meaningful discussions about the future of the Deseret property. And then earlier this summer, the County Commission put two charter amendments on the November ballot designed to give itself veto power over such annexations and to severely restrict development in the part of the county where Deseret is the largest landholder.

Add to that the recent political earthquake created by the primary election deadlock between anti-growth County Commissioner Nicole Wilson and pro-economic growth challenger Austin Arthur, and the lay of the land regarding county government is uncertain at best.

“We are a caring, responsible landowner who works sustainably and gives back to our communities,” Farmland Reserve President Doug Rose said in a news release announcing the annexation application. “We see planning as investing in a healthy, prosperous future for Central Florida. Putting this Deseret Ranch property under a single municipal government will avoid the piecemeal planning of the past.”

Anti-growth community activists spurred the County Commission to put the charter amendments on the ballot, but they tend to view every kind of growth as bad and are quick to shout “sprawl.” This kind of knee-jerk reaction ignores the merits of each individual proposal and the people behind it. In this case, Deseret Ranch has given every reason over the past 70-plus years to believe them when they say conserving natural resources is always the first consideration in their planning.

If the Orange County Commission had considered this, perhaps they wouldn’t be on the verge of losing sway over the ranch.