Bald Eagle Protection

Collier County, FL: (Apr-22-08) A North Naples landowner filed a $240 million property rights claim against Collier County in May 2006, after county commissioners refused to loosen bald eagle protection rules at a high-rise condominium site, stating that he was unable to sell his land as a result of the statute. In a recent development in the year-long lawsuit, sources on both sides of the dispute stated that the parties have reached a settlement. Under the terms of agreement, Detroit-based Lodge Abbott Associates LLC will be given permission to go ahead and build high-rises around the new bald eagle nest tree in accordance with a permit issued by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The project will be known as Signature Communities.

In exchange for the permits, the developer would pay $3 million toward the county's affordable housing trust fund, pay $3 million for safety improvements to the Vanderbilt Drive bridge and build a sidewalk on the west side of Vanderbilt Drive. The land development settlement was reached in concept in December 2006, but the formal approval was delayed after bald eagles built a nest in a new tree at the site and to allow for a more thorough review by the Planning Commission. [NAPLES DAILY NEWS: COLLIER SETTLES $240 MILLION CLAIM INVOLVING BALD EAGLE PROTECTION AT NORTH NAPLES HIGH-RISE SITE]

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Published on Apr-23-08