A Punta Gorda man's lawsuit involving Charlotte County's "Scrub Jay Fee" — Colosi v. Charlotte County, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, et al — has been given a boost in federal district court.
The court handed Pacific Legal Foundation a major win in the case by turning down Charlotte County's and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's motion to dismiss PLF’s constitutional claims. PLF is representing Colosi at no charge.
Florida’s only endemic bird species, The Florida Scrub Jay, is at the center of the legal battle in Charlotte County.
Conservation groups are trying to ensure the county lives up to its promise to protect the endangered species after new landowner Colosi argued that those protections aren’t warranted on the bird.
Information from PLF said that to Colosi, the County has it completely backward. His property, with its tall pines and dense saw palmetto, is unsuitable for scrub jays in the first place. Even if his land were a suitable habitat, building on a small section would pose a minimal threat to the species.
More on the issue
PLF said Colosi is perfectly willing to comply with other HCP requirements, such as avoiding land clearing during nesting season and planting native scrub oaks that encourage scrub jays to move in. But the mandatory fee cannot be waived or reduced, and his staunch refusal to pay it has led to a standoff in which the County refuses to approve his scrub jay application and any clearing or building permits.
The ruling allows Colosi’s challenge to Charlotte County’s $139,000 “Scrub Jay fee” to proceed, upholding his claims that the fee is unconstitutional and that the federal government cannot regulate a bird found only in Florida.
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