Latter-day Saint ranch in Florida files to annex land to Orlando for development

A Florida corporation that operates agriculture assets as investments for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced this week that it filed to voluntarily annex 52,450 acres of a ranch to Orlando for future development.

“Putting this Deseret Ranch property under a single municipal government will avoid the piecemeal planning of the past,” Farmland Reserve President Doug Rose said in a news release. “We look forward to working with the City of Orlando, a municipality known worldwide for its superb quality of life, strong community culture and growing high-tech economy.”

Orlando currently consists of 87,888 acres, according to city spokeswoman Ashley Papagni.

The Deseret Ranch cattle ranches cover 300,000 acres in central Florida. It is the flagship cattle operation of AgReserves , a Farmland Reserve subsidiary that is a for-profit investment affiliate of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The returns earned by the ranches support the church’s religious, humanitarian, educational and charitable good works.

The three members of the church’s Presiding Bishopric, who oversee the church’s temporal or business affairs, are listed in Florida records as directors of Farmland Reserve.

Deseret Ranches has a herd of 42,500 cows in 14 management units. The operation also includes citrus orchards, sod farms, solar panels and water management.

The proposed annexation would add about 17% of the Deseret Ranch land to Orlando’s city limits as the “East Orlando Deseret Ranch planning area,” the news release said.

Development would take decades and be part of Farmland Reserve’s 70-year plan. The land would remain in agriculture while Orlando and Farmland Reserve work together to manage the city’s growth into the area, according to the Farmland Reserve news release.

Deseret Cattle & Citrus was founded in 1950 with 50,000 acres of cutover timberland and low-quality grassland. The acreage quickly quadrupled. Today it sprawls across Orange, Osceola and Brevard counties.

The decision to petition for annexation of some of the land with Orlando comes as Orange County voters consider a Nov. 5 ballot initiative that would grant the county power to veto voluntary annexations .

Developers have sued to block the initiative from the ballot .

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said the initiative is necessary because Central Florida and Orange County have experienced record growth across decades, creating pressure on ecological, environmental and transportation systems, he said in a statement.

“I have the greatest admiration for Farmland Reserve and the management team of Deseret Ranch,” Demings said. “Orange County has enjoyed a lengthy, harmonious relationship with the leadership of the organization for decades. Deseret Ranch has been responsible landowners during that time and Orange County has worked with them for the last decade or so in perfecting their 70-plus-year vision plan on responsible and sustainable growth.”

Orlando did not seek the Deseret Ranch annexation, said Papagni, the city spokeswoman.

“One of the unintended consequences of the county’s decision to proceed with a functional ban on voluntary annexations is that landowners and residents are now confronted with expediting planning efforts that they may have undertaken over the next several years into the next couple of months to avail themselves of rights that the proposed annexation charter amendment may foreclose,” Papagni said in a statement.

“We would prefer not to have these decisions made in such compressed timeframes,” she added, “but given the circumstances imposed by the county and our obligation to protect the best interest of our taxpayers and residents, we must review these applications and make a decision on them before a county charter amendment might go into effect.”

Farmland Reserve has invested in agriculture for the church for 100 years “as a safe, prudent way to preserve and grow the church’s financial reserves,” according to its website.

The Deseret Ranch website’s “Future of the Region” page says that Florida’s growth arrived on its doorstep decades ago. Today, the Orlando airport is just a few miles from one end of the ranch. Florida’s Space Coast is an hour to the east, as are Disney World and the state’s famous beaches.

Farmland Reserve and Deseret Ranch have declined “many offers” to sell pieces of the ranch for more than 70 years, the website says.

“Deseret (Ranch) occupies a key location in the region and has been a strong proponent of long-range planning,” the site says. “Wise planning will result in more efficient land use, better economic development, preservation of key natural areas, and the perpetuation of agriculture for generations to come.”