Avalon Developer

Avalon Developer

Florida offers developers two options to comply with the current regulations regarding gopher tortoise impacts: they can obtain a permit for "incidental take" (i.e., accidental killing) of gopher tortoises as a result of development or they can obtain a permit to relocate the tortoises. Many developers choose to pay for the killing and they bury them alive.

Avalon, an example in "new urbanism" is a nearby community. This is a picture of the developer. The developer who chose to bury the tortoises. The article was praising him for being a good citizen.

He is a father of young children, and a successful businessman. I wonder if his kids know that he buried Gopher Tortoises alive!?

I think the permit to "bury a tortoise alive" is around $1,000 per tortoise. I'll bet there are plenty of college students who would be happy to go dig up a tortoise and move it to another location for $1,000. Good money for a college student. Wonder why no one has ever asked?