The owner of Central Florida’s Deseret Ranches, an undeveloped frontier so vast that its horizons appear to follow the earth’s curve, announced Monday its intentions to partner with the city of Orlando for urban growth across a staggering amount of ranchland in coming decades.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, through its subsidiaries Farmland Reserve and Deseret Ranches, confirmed that it has filed an application with Orlando to voluntarily annex into the city limits 52,450 acres now under the land-use jurisdiction of Orange County government.

That amount of wet and wild ranchland property, for comparison, is eight times as large as the city of Winter Park, and is still virtually untouched by pavement, rooftops or even people. The annexation would increase the footprint of Orlando by nearly 60 percent.

The Deseret announcement blames a history of failed collaboration with Orange County in working toward a development planning framework like the two previous initiatives it has undertaken in Osceola County that now provide a blueprint for growth across nearly half of the ranch’s 300,000 acres.

“Central Florida is our home. This is not just where we work – it’s where we live and raise our families,” said ranch manager Clint Richardson in a statement regarding land owned by the church for as many as seven decades. “Over the years, we have demonstrated our commitment to working with our neighbors to find solutions to regional issues to preserve what we all love about living here.”

Exclusive: Huge annexation could mean two-thirds boost in size of Orlando

Prepared by a public relations firm, the statement said that at Deseret Ranches “the environment always comes first” and that the eventual spread of metropolitan Orlando across the 52,450 acres some 25 miles from city hall will reflect “commitment to sustainable, long-range, smart-growth planning.”

The church is designating the tract proposed for annexation as the “East Orlando Deseret Ranch Planning Area.”

But the announcement also calls into question the church’s willingness to be transparent in what is likely to be one of the largest annexations in Florida history.

The statement does not provide even general detail about the church’s conceptual plans for that growth, or its potential population, and the public relations firm said that the church would not offer further comment on its intentions for what promises to be transformational for the rural, urban and environmental balance of Central Florida.

Orange voters to decide if county can veto annexations

The bid to voluntarily annex into the city of Orlando appears to be a high-stakes gambit to dodge a referendum on the November ballot that, if approved by Orange County voters, would give county leaders the power to veto annexations – and, by extension, potentially thwart development in rural areas like that envisioned by the church.

If successful, the annexation would place some of Central Florida’s most important wildlife habitat, open spaces and water resources – an expansive cradle of sloughs, marshes and open water between the Econlockhatchee and St. Johns rivers – under the oversight of a government entity that has relatively limited experience in those areas, the city of Orlando.

The church in its statement cited other priorities for wanting to add the tract to city limits.

“Putting this Deseret Ranch property under a single municipal government will avoid the piecemeal planning of the past,” said Doug Rose, Farmland Reserve president. “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.”

Orange County government, in regularly addressing rural and suburban growth pressures, maintains a division devoted to environmental regulations and protections, and has wetlands rules far more extensive than those of urban-focused Orlando.

“Annexation into the city of Orlando will likely bring about weaker wetlands and other natural systems protection due to the loss of Orange County’s more strict comprehensive plan and land development regulations,” said Charles Lee, advocacy director at Audubon of Florida.

“Orange County has a much stronger set of criteria in its wetlands protections than either the city of Orlando or the state of Florida,” Lee said. “Large intact wetlands are essentially off limits to most kinds of development whereas Orlando and state requirements would allow development with mitigation.”

Orlando city hall, in a statement, said wetland and wildlife habitat protections for the Deseret property would come through extensive studies and would meet state and federal requirements.

The city did not seek the annexation request, according to its statement, which added that landowners may want to become part of Orlando for “ better public services, more reliable government partnerships, less bureaucracy, more forthright and transparent government, more sustainable patterns of development, or the simple sense of place and pride that comes with being part of a community.”

A consequence of the November ballot referendum, according to Orlando city hall, is that landowners are having to rush to secure development rights that the amendment may otherwise block.

“We would prefer not to have these decisions made in such compressed timeframes, 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,” the city said in its statement.

Orange County released a statement from Mayor Jerry Demings Monday afternoon, saying, “We recognize that this may cause some property owners concern if the ballot initiative passes by the voters. However, I want our residents to know that if property owners have the right balance in protecting the environment and responsibly managing growth in a sustainable way that works for everyone, they should not fear Orange County’s vision for growth management.”

In the church’s annexation announcement, Rose described the intended partnership with Orlando as philanthropic at its core.

“We are a caring, responsible landowner who works sustainably and gives back to our communities,” Rose said. “We see planning as investing in a healthy, prosperous future for Central Florida.”

The church, its subsidiaries and a private partner, Tavistock Development Co. have shown a willingness to play hardball with Central Florida leaders to further their other development interests.

Deseret Ranches and Tavistock have been the primary promoters of the highly controversial project to extend the Osceola Parkway through the treasured Split Oak Forest in north Osceola County and toward their development projects.

Toll road approved to cut through Split Oak Forest

As an incentive for approval of the road, Deseret and Tavistock offered to put 1,550 acres of forest, wetlands and former agricultural land under environmental conservation – and to intensively develop that land if the road through Split Oak Forest were rejected.

City officials said the annexation application was filed Friday and that no timeline has been set yet for its review and presentation to the city council.