LAND O' LAKES, Fla. — Some local property owners say that new housing development is endangering wildlife.
Cynda Crouch says the land around her Land O’ Lakes home is a wildlife preserve and wetlands need to be protected.
“We have bald eagles on property. We have an endangered osprey on the property. We have four herds of deer that are now about to have their babies,” she said.
But Cynda and her neighbor Debbie Moore say the latest housing development is putting that wildlife in danger.
“The animals, the turtles, the birds — there’s nowhere for them to go they are so jammed in,” said Moore.
This fence is part of what has the longtime residents so upset.
Some have lived here since the early 70s.
They all came to the Pasco County Commission meeting armed with maps and pictures, saying that fence is blocking the wildlife’s natural movements and crowding the road it runs along.
“Our cars can barely get through. My first time passing it my mirror actually tapped the fence post,” said David Crouch, who bought his property in 1971.
Cynda also says ambulances and garbage trucks can’t get through to her home and there are flooding issues caused by the new development too.
She’s hoping county officials will force developers to move the fence back to give the wildlife more of a buffer.
“They are going to try but I hope it’s not just another bouncing of the ball because that’s what they’ve been doing to us for over a year now,” said Crouch.
Debbie’s been fighting against development here for more than 25 years.
“My soul is really injured. My husband would lay in front of the tractors that were cutting the trees down on Lake Patience Road. He went to the hospital over the stress of trying to stop that,” said Moore.
County officials talked with the group outside the meeting and tell me they hope to get someone from all the departments involved together to figure this all out once and for all.
Hurricane Milton is expected to rapidly intensify to a Category 4 storm by the end of tomorrow.
