Despite a last-minute hiccup, Orlando city council members approved a sweeping agreement with Orange County Monday that effectively blocks a planned annexation of the sprawling Deseret Ranch.
The annexation would have brought 80 square miles of undeveloped ranch and agricultural lands into the city limits, and for weeks it had seemed on a fast track for approval. But behind the scenes, city and county leaders quietly negotiated a deal settling several hot-button issues that had caused conflict between them, including annexations, recycling, and of most consequence Monday, homelessness.
The deal was approved by the city council by a 5-2 vote, with Commissioners Tony Ortiz and Jim Gray in opposition.
What sparked last-minute backlash was a segment of the agreement that called for the city to take control of the dormitory portion of the county’s Work Release Center for inmates on Kaley Street, on a $1 per year lease for seven years, starting in 2025.
City leaders have long eyed the massive facility south of downtown Orlando as a homeless shelter, in part due to its size, layout and location. It is near downtown but not in Parramore where the bulk of the region’s homeless services already are located. It’s also near transit. Yet about a dozen opponents to the new shelter site south of downtown gave the council an earful Monday.