Irresponsible. Orlando wants to hastily annex a Baltimore-sized piece of land to sate developers | Commentary

I don’t think many people appreciate just how massive — and rash — the city of Orlando’s latest annexation plans are.

It wouldn’t just change the face of Orlando. It would change the face of Florida.

Usually, when a city talks about expanding its footprint, it takes in something like a neighborhood that’s already on the edge of the city. That is not what we’re talking about here.

Some of the land Buddy Dyer and the city council want to annex is more than 30 miles from city hall. Sanford is closer.

And we’re not talking about a subdivision. We are talking about 81 square miles — a swath of land bigger than the city of Baltimore.

All to sate developers who have cozy relationships with City Hall and want to escape the environmental regulations of Orange County.

If you don’t understand why a developer might want to be “regulated” by the city of Orlando instead of Orange County’s department of Environmental Protection, consider this: Orlando doesn’t even have a department of environmental protection.

You know how naughty kids often plan their antics when the less attentive parent is in charge? Well, in this case, Orlando is the distracted dad.

“The county is more rigorous and more protective,” said Julie Wraithmell, the executive director of Audubon Florida who traveled all the way from Tallahassee to urge city council members not to barrel ahead, calling this an issue “of statewide significance.”

“Even if you don’t care about hugging trees and bunnies or any of that, you need those wetlands to protect your drinking water, to protect from flooding and from wildlfires and drought,” Wraithmell said. “There is substantial public interest in getting it right.”

Wraithmell said she wasn’t trying to insult Orlando by saying the city wasn’t prepared to handle the environmental impact. Cities normally focus on things like urban development and infill — not 52,000 acres of environmentally fragile land the size of Toledo.

For its part, the city of Orlando seems hellbent on, and unapologetic about making this happen. In fact, Dyer sounded downright angry at last week’s council meeting. He said the county’s plan to let voters decide next month whether county officials can prohibit future annexations was rash and hypocritical and prompted multiple property owners to request annexation for fear that they might not be able to do so in the future.

But this annexation wouldn’t make any more sense five years from now than it would today. Seriously, look at the map. Orlando already looks like two separate cities with a narrow strip of land connecting the original city to the airport/Lake Nona area. This annexation would add a third city bigger than Newark and Miami combined .

Keep in mind: State law says annexations must involve land that is “contiguous and reasonably compact,” which is part of why the county says litigation is possible.

Orange County Tax Collector Scott Randolph said he made the unusual decision of also attending the city council meeting, urging commissioners not to annex the land because the plan represented the worst possible example of sprawl that would further tax existing residents to provide city services 30 miles from the urban core.

“Residents of Orlando deserve to know how this is going to be paid for,” Randolph said.

City officials actually bragged about how the developers were eager to work with them instead of the county, going so far as to call the developers “partners.”

That’s not a badge of honor. It should be humiliating. It’s like that distracted dad bragging about how his naughtiest kids love it when he’s in charge — and four beers into a six-pack.

Orlando council member Patty Sheehan cast the only dissenting vote in the preliminary vote. The final vote is scheduled for Oct. 21. (City councilmembers’ contact info can be found at orlando.gov/Our-Government/Mayor-City-Council )

Orlando gives initial OK to massive Deseret Ranches annexation

You have to imagine the developers of Deseret Ranch — a for-profit arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and their development partner, Tavistock — are laughing all the way to the bank about this group of eager-to-please pols defiantly vowing to do what they want.

One observer asked me if any of these guys were hoping to score jobs with Tavistock or Deseret after their political careers ended. That would seem beyond the pale. Besides, who needs these politicians actually on the payroll when they’re already doing the companies’ bidding?

The city disputes that it will be soft on regulations. And Dyer made a point of saying he wouldn’t be “bullied” by anyone, including this newspaper.

The city may not have an environmental protection division but says it regulates through a combination of divisions — stormwater, planning and code enforcement — and also counts on the state of Florida to enforce environmental regulations.

That last part is rich. The idea of expecting this state — which recently proposed bulldozing state parks for golf courses and resorts — to vigorously enforce environmental protections is like relying on a zombie to protect your brain.

Both the city and developers stressed the project would include much-needed affordable housing and that much of the land would be protected “forever.” Local residents have reasons to scoff at both promises.

After all, the Split Oak environmental preserve was also supposed to be protected forever. Instead, it was only protected until the developers of this very project wanted to plow a toll road through it.

The Split Oak betrayal: Will Florida ever change? | Commentary

And the last time I wrote about the city’s commitment to affordable housing, we learned that when the city said it had required the Orlando Magic to include affordable housing in a development project the city was helping subsidize, the fine print guaranteed a total of only 10 “attainable” housing units — out of 273.

Listen, I don’t really think city officials are looking for paybacks. They seem genuinely excited about this project and genuinely peeved at the county.

This whole turf war is more proof that the city and county should consider consolidating their services as other urban counties have done.

Welcome to … Orange-lando? Is it time for a city-county merger? | Commentary

But on this issue, we have two sides. On one is a broad assortment of county officials, local residents and environmentalists saying this annexation is a bad idea. On the other, you have the developers and their hand-picked political pals.

Both Randolph and Wraithmell said one of the most troubling aspects is that the city hasn’t demanded more specifics from the developers about what city services they will need and how much it might cost taxpayers.

“The supporting documents for this item on first reading would be skeletal for an annexation of 52 acres, let alone 52,000,” Wraithmell said. And if this deal is done, there’s no going back.

On the plus side, Dyer vowed to invite environmental groups to the table once the planning gets going. But it shouldn’t even get started. At least not now.

Opponents simply asked the city to tap the brakes — which seems like a reasonable request before annexing land the size of St. Louis.

smaxwell@orlandosentinel.com