TAMPA - A plan to preserve publicly owned Cone Ranch by selling most of it into private ownership will be studied by a panel appointed by Hillsborough County commissioners.

Commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday morning to create a committee to study the plan by the Environmental and Conservation Group, a group of private investors hoping to broker sales and conservation agreements for 12,000 acres of the ranch near Plant City. The group would earn a fee for brokering the sales and crafting environmental protections for the parcels.

Chairman Ken Hagan made the motion for each commissioner to appoint a member by June 3 from the environmental community to serve on the panel. Hagan said he is intrigued by the private-public partnership proposal that would preserve the land under private ownership without using county conservation dollars.

But Hagan said he wants the deal to be vetted by the public and the county's legal and real estate staff.

"I only support reviewing this proposal with the understanding that ... these protections that are put into place are ironclad ... and it must permanently prohibit development on Cone Ranch," Hagan said.

The 12,800-acre Cone Ranch is owned by the county's water department, which operates its finances separately from the rest of the county government. There are bond issues tied to the property that would need to be paid from any sale of the property.

Because of the complex nature of the ownership of the property and the obligations to bondholders, Commissioner Jim Norman moved that the study committee include financial and real estate experts in addition to environmental activists.

The committee will meet after the commission meeting June 3 and make a recommendation to the commission on June 15.

Commissioner Kevin Beckner amended Hagan's motion to require the Environmental Conservation Group to provide a more detailed proposal to county officials who will make the proposal available to the public.

Reporter Mike Salinero can be reached at (813) 259-8303.