Increasing development pressures from neighboring Walt Disney World has the LDS Church considering commercial uses for its Deseret Ranch, an agricultural property half the size of Rhode Island.
The prospect of developing parts of the cattle ranch, 10 times the size of the huge theme park, is exciting to some local government leaders and a source of concern to others who fear disruptions to long-term, land-use planning in an area of explosive growth."Because of certain things that are happening around us, there are parts of the land that are getting development pressure," said John King, who manages the investment by the LDS Church in the 300,000-acre ranch.
"We need to make sure we look at all the options," added King last week.
"We're looking at the pressure of growth on us," said Ranch Manager Paul Genho.
But both officials stressed that they were not ready to discuss specifics and that there were no imminent plans.
The ranch property, in four parcels in Osceola, Orange and Brevard counties, is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Managers are quietly talking about the possibilities of long-term commercial use of portions of the vast cattle-raising property.
King has been meeting with officials in Osceola and Orange counties and various state agencies to discuss what is happening around it and discuss the planning process.
Oceola County Commissioner Reidy Williams was enthusiastic about the possibilities.
"It would mean tremendous growth in the opposite direction of Disney World, which is ideal," Williams said.
He said King recently spoke of plans to build a regional airport to serve Orlando and Melbourne. Melbourne is at the eastern end of U.S. 192, which lies along the southern border of the ranch.
But Orange County officials said development at Deseret might cause growth the county could not handle.
"It would completely disrupt the existing comprehensive plan for Orange County," said David Heath, assistant county planner.
Most of the ranch property, south and east of Orlando International Airport, has some 200 miles of private roads. But much of its vast acreage is closed off to the public.
About half the ranch land is still in its natural state, with areas of cypress trees and several lakes and ponds. The improved acreage supports 30,000 head of cattle.
The last time church officials thought about selling the land was in the late 1960s. It was then valued at about $100 million. It hasn't been appraised recently.
The problem with development on the ranch is that it would not stop there, Heath said.
"When you develop a large project in the middle of a rural area, you create momentum. You have other proj-ects follow it."
Deseret now holds an agricultural water use permit that with state approval could allow them to take enough water from the ground to serve 50,000 residents, said Cliff Guillet, director of the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council.
He met with ranch officials about a year ago.
"They were in the very early stages of trying to decide what to do next," Guillet said. "They were very non-specific at the time. They were saying it made good corporate sense to do some planning with their property."