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Sand skinks hinder developers

LAKE MARY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) – Orange County’s west side has a big problem as it tries to recover from a slumping economy: sand skinks. The 4-inch creatures that are akin to lizards, but look more like snakes, have been classified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as endangered. As a result, new hurdles are in the way of anyone who wants to develop, or even change the use of land, where these creatures live.

The sand skink is only indigenous to seven counties in Florida and nowhere else in the world. Those counties are: Putnam, Marion, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Highlands.

Orange County Commissioner Scott Boyd says the new restrictions will essentially prevent development on the west side of the County. I asked him if this is government gone wild?

“I would say so. There was no public input, and scientific data has been part of the process.”

He wants the feds to back off. If someone wants to develop an area where either the skink or even the trail of a skink is found, it would force the land owner to set aside about 44 acres of conservation land in exchange.

“It’s $70,000 an acre, so you’re looking at $3 million if you want to come in and change it from grazing pasture land to citrus and agriculture, or if you want to change the land use to development. Either way you’re going to have up front cost.”

He did assure us he wanted to help protect the sand skinks and not send them to extinction, but he also asked his fellow Orange County Commissioners to pass a resolution asking the feds to ease these restrictions. The commission agreed unanimously, but the resolution carries little weight.

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