Building now cheaper, faster on Scrub Jay habitats in Charlotte County

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CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. – Big news today for land owners and sellers in Charlotte County. Realtors tell WINK News development has been stunted in some areas of Southwest Florida and it’s all because of a bird called Scrub Jays.

To build on land in designated Scrub Jay habitats, you had to apply for the permit through the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission–which took years for approval and hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The permit for a quarter acre lot of land could cost up to $30,000 and take anywhere from 1-4 years to approve but now it will only cost $2,200 and a few days for approval.

“In 2007 I received a phone call from a gentleman from Pennsylvania who had bought a lot in deep creek and he and his wife were going to retire here and build their dream home but when he found out about the Scrub Jays he was in tears because financially he was not expecting to buy a second lot for birds and I was appalled when I heard about this,” said Tricia Duffy, Charlotte County Commissioner.

After years of drafting plans and working with FWC, Charlotte County is the first county in the state to pass the ordinance to streamline the process of getting the permit.

The Scrub Jays won’t be harmed in any way because the county has already bought acres of land for the birds’ habitats to be relocated to.

This is also good news for realtors.

“This has been at least ten years that it’s been affecting growth and building in Charlotte County…especially here in Deep Creek, Rotunda area, Gulf Cove and south Gulf Cove. It’s going to change things dramatically,” said realtor James Mulligan of Suncoasteam Realty.

Mulligan tells WINK News just in the last few weeks lots have sold for between $20,000 and $50,000 but those same size lots in the same neighborhood will barely even sell for $5,000 dollars if Scrub Jays are nearby. But Mulligan says that’s going to change now and it’s going to revitalize many parts of Charlotte County.

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