Orlando city commissioners voted 6-1 Monday in favor of Farmland Reserve’s request to greatly expand the city limits, advancing an ordinance that, if approved, would annex more than 52,000 acres of unincorporated, East Orange County land into the city as soon as next month.
A second, final reading of the ordinance is slated for October 21, and with commissioners’ approval, it would take effect immediately.
The annexation request worries many city and county residents, including community advocates, local and state leaders and political candidates. Some gathered outside City Hall ahead of Monday’s council meeting to speak out against the proposal from Farmland Reserve, a Mormon Church affiliate and owner of Deseret Ranches.
Some say landowners fast-tracked the annexation request with the city in an attempt to circumvent Orange County voters’ opportunity to establish more checks and balances for approving annexations of unincorporated county land.
This November, a proposed charter amendment to do just that will appear on Orange County ballots, along with another amendment to establish a rural boundary.
“To ignore the will of the voters by trying to speed up a vote is very concerning to myself and everyone here,” said state Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando.
Orange County Firefighters Association President Chris Ritchie also spoke at Monday’s rally, saying he represented about 1,300 men and women who provide fire and emergency medical services for county residents.
“If the city of Orlando annexes that area, they are not set up to provide the same level of service that Orange County can provide right now,” Ritchie said.
Right now, Orlando is struggling to cover its own needs for fire and EMS services, Ritchie said, including in areas already previously annexed by the city.
“There's annexation areas in our county that the city cannot provide coverage to, that this county still responds [to],” Ritchie said. “We still provide services to the citizens … on the backs of the taxpayers of Orange County, not the citizens of Orlando.”
Also speaking at Monday’s rally, Orange County Tax Collector Scott Randolph said the proposal wouldn’t benefit city residents. On the contrary, if approved, it would commit Orlando taxpayers to “70 years of subsidizing urban sprawl,” Randolph said.
Randolph also admonished city leaders for failing to share more details about how the land annexation and necessary infrastructure would be funded.
“Committing the city of Orlando to billions of bonds on a wish and a prayer is not fiscally sound,” Randolph said. “Tax cuts don't pay for themselves, and growth doesn't pay for itself.”
Speaking during a public comment period at Monday’s meeting, Randolph told commissioners that in 20 years of living in Orlando, it was his first time addressing the council.
“I think the residents of Orlando deserve to know how this is going to be paid for,” Randolph said. He urged commissioners not to annex the land without first developing an agreement for a Community Development District or CDD.
Gary Hunter, an attorney with Holtzman Vogel representing Farmland Reserve, also spoke to commissioners Monday, responding to a question from District 6 Commissioner Bakari Burns about how much of the annexed land would be environmentally protected.
“The short answer to your question is there's no answer to your question, because we're not asking for anything other than to be part of the city, rather than part of the county,” Hunter told Burns. “There’s no development plan whatsoever proposed with anything that's being asked of the commission today, none whatsoever.”
Hunter said Farmland Reserve is happy with Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer’s condition that no development activity would occur on the property for at least 15 years — “and perhaps longer than that, if we don’t have a plan in place [by then],” Hunter said.
Dyer doubled down on that promise to city residents Monday.
“As a city, we will insist that there be no development on this land — listen to me right here — no development on this land until at least 2040,” Dyer said. “And until there are substantial wetlands in conservation, and preserved lands.”
Casting the lone “no” vote was District 4 Commissioner Patty Sheehan, who expressed conflicted feelings about the annexation request.
“I don't believe annexing this parcel is good for the city. I also understand the property owner's frustration with a lack of professional or cohesive process from the county,” Sheehan said. “So it’s a very difficult situation to be put in.”
Many against this annexation proposal say Orlando’s environmental protections pale in comparison to Orange County’s: especially considering new wetlands protections the county just implemented earlier this year.
But Sheehan blasted what she characterized as Orange County’s “dysfunctional” government processes, mainly a sluggish permitting pace, which she said is stalling progress on critical projects like Pet Alliance’s new shelter.
“I'm only voting no because I don't think it's Orlando's responsibility to fix Orange County's mess,” Sheehan said. “But I would say to you, as Orange County residents: you need to hold Orange County accountable, because they have created this mess.”
About 40 people who shared public comment Monday were all opposed to the proposal.
