Cave Creek on Monday gave citizens the chance to see long-awaited plans to annex 8.8 square miles of mostly state trust land.

Officials presented the details to the Cave Creek Town Council, which later in February will consider development agreements with the Arizona State Land Department, which owns the trust lands. The sale or lease of those lands helps fund education and other state services.

The annexation would increase the town's size by one-third.

Of the 8.8 square miles annexed, about 6.7 square miles, or 4,300 acres, would be preserved from development by the town, creating a buffer between busy Carefree Highway and the town's Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area.

The annexation would extend the town's borders west to the alignment of 28th Street, north of Carefree Highway.

It also prevents the state trust land from being snapped up by Phoenix, where development is often more intense.