Florida landowner fights bird-brained permit shakedown and phantom habitat overreach

Florida landowner fights bird-brained permit shakedown and phantom habitat overreach

PLF battles illegal land use fees to restore property rights and the Separation of Powers

In Charlotte County, Florida, the difference between building your forever home and surrendering your rights comes down to a bird, a patch of land smaller than an IMAX screen, and a six-figure government ransom.

Just ask Mike Colosi. This young, self-made tech entrepreneur is locked in a constitutional battle against two government agencies, testing both his resolve and the limits of regulatory power over private property nationwide.

“I think our current government’s mantra is to just keep growing and regulate everything,” observes Mike. “It’s like a, ‘you’ll own nothing, and be happy’ scenario. Honestly, it’s so egregious that I thought there was no way officials would do this, but they did. So here we are.”

Like many Americans fleeing high-tax, cold-weather states, Mike was drawn to Florida’s sunshine and promise of freedom and opportunity. He found the perfect spot: a peaceful 5.07-acre plot in Punta Gorda with abundant trees and natural beauty.

“We like the area, we like the fact that there’s a very relaxed HOA that keeps the neighborhood clean,” Mike explains.

His vision was simple: preserve his land’s natural character while carving out just enough space—about an acre—for his home.

But Mike has yet to break ground. When he asked about the necessary permits, Charlotte County dropped a bombshell demand: a $139,440 “development fee” to protect a bird that even experts say wouldn’t nest on his property.

The Florida scrub jay has the unique distinction as the state’s only native bird species. It lives nowhere but Florida, yet its threatened species status has triggered both federal and local protection under the Endangered Species Act and the county’s Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP), respectively. Mike’s lot, thick with tall pines and saw palmetto, lacks the low-growing oak scrub these birds need to survive. Yet the county still demands the steep fee to offset the speculative impact on a phantom habitat.

The county’s math is a bureaucrat’s fever dream. The fee for a one-acre development like Mike’s is $9,999. The five-acre tier is $61,993. But because the county roped Mike’s entire 5.07-acre lot into its calculations, and because his lot exceeds five acres by a mere 0.07 acres—roughly the size of half a basketball court—his fee skyrocketed to $139,440. There’s no formula, no science, no logic—just government winging it with numbers. And the county may even raise fees even higher in 2026.

Mike offered to follow the HCP’s other conservation measures, timing construction around nesting season and planting scrub oaks to improve any potential habitat. The county’s response? Pay up or forget your dream home.

“They weren’t treating this as a highly organized, orderly process, and we’re not saying we want to dump oil into water. So, I assumed we would be able to negotiate with them. I was wrong,” he recounts. “I don’t think the county genuinely believes the environment will be destroyed because I build a house. This is really about the money. Not the bird.”

The Supreme Court made it crystal clear in PLF’s landmark wins, Nollan v. California Coastal Commission (1987) and Koontz. v. St. Johns River Water Management District (2013), along with Dolan v. City of Tigard (1994), that government demands tied to property use must be both related and proportional to the project’s actual impact. The shakedown Mike faces is neither.

“Charlotte County’s arbitrary fee scheme fails Supreme Court precedent spectacularly,” says PLF attorney Johanna Talcott.

Equally unconstitutional is Charlotte County’s reliance on the federal Endangered Species Act for its fee authority rather than state law. The Act, passed under the Constitution’s Commerce Clause, only permits Congress to regulate interstate commerce, not intrastate, leaving police power in land use regulation to the states.

“The federal government has no congressional authority to regulate a bird that’s exclusive to Florida and has no connection to interstate commerce,” points out Johanna. “This double overreach doesn’t just harm Floridians like Mike—it undermines fundamental limits on government power.”

“The government is going to do what the government wants to do, and I’m to the point where the only way to resolve this is to sue them,” declares Mike. “There’s really no other choice. The government has a monopoly on force.”

Represented free of charge by PLF, Mike is fighting back. His federal lawsuit challenges Charlotte County’s excessive fees as well as federal regulation of a purely in-state species as unconstitutional.

While a victory would restore Mike’s right to finally build his long-awaited home, he recognizes—and embraces—what’s at stake for everyone else.

“So many other people affected by this who are incapable of fighting back,” he says. “Success in the scrub-jay portion would help Florida. Success in the interstate commerce portion would make a huge impact across the U.S. That’s become my life goal.”

“I’m not someone who is going to back down from a fight, even if it takes ten years,” he adds. “I’m confident we’ll win. So, let’s go.”