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Click to return to Eagle's Nest Area Page Click to return to 2008 Chronology Legal Status of the Eagle's Nest Area Sept/Oct 2003 |
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Note the headline reads: “Eagle’s Nest Area.” The Eagle can find no reference in any documents related to the Eagle’s nest, The Landings or Sarasota County property documents referring to it as a “preserve” or other term giving it the legal status for treatment as such. The Eagle will refer to it as “area” (as it is designated in the Covenants) So what! Why is this significant? Historically, when the “area” comes up for discussion by an Association, usually the LMA, the conventional wisdom is “we can’t do anything to it, or about the problem or issue because it is a protected preserve.” And whatever the subject, dead trees, drainage, berm, renovation or alteration, the discussion generally stops as not possible because of restrictions. The Eagle’s research indicates that is simply not the case. Lawyers will have to make the final determination, but here is our read on the subject. The earliest mention of the eagle’s nest is a reference in the Stipulations of the Board of County Commissioners granting approval of the Landings development plan. It calls for “. . .an undeveloped reserve area, 300 feet from all directions of the eagle’s nesting site be provided.” The Landings Covenants dedicate a paragraph to “Eagles Nest Area.” In it, the area is described as “Tract F, Exhibit A” excluding it from the Covenants provisions. It sets it aside as private property, owned by C&M Associates (The Landings Developer) and not to be developed. The plats (the formal layout and legal description of the development area) filed with the county refer to simply as “Tract F.” Significantly The Eagle’s search of the “fine print of the plats” found no reference to “eagles” or “preserve” in the descriptions or notes. We invite a more thorough search to insure that is the case. It is significant because, according to county officials, that is the most likely spot to verify an area as being set aside as a “preserve.” While the Covenants designate C&M Associates as the sole owner of the area it is identified in a quitclaim deed dated March 13, 1987 as transferring from C&M Associates to LMA ownership as Tract F, which is the entire 7.4 acres, including the easement off Landings Blvd. What does all this mean in terms the eagle area, its use, its maintenance, its potential for development (not as if anyone would desire that), exploitation as an amenity for residents, or whatever use? First the “eagles” area is owned by the LMA and therefore by all property and residence owners of The Landings for use as they might wish within the covenants or by alteration of the covenants. Second, the LMA may do such things as cut and maintain damaged or dead trees without having to wait until they fall and are not limited to simply trimming branches off dead trees after they fall. They could alter the land for drainage, landscape, or other purposes within the framework of want is permitted for any land. One attorney, knowledgeable of The Landings, indicates “the restrictions in the Covenants on the future maintenance and use of the area are stated in terms of the developer's "intentions." This leaves the developer, and LMA as successor owner, free to abandon such intentions and exercise the unrestricted rights of land ownership.” It appears only the issue of protecting eagles might stand in the way of other uses of the area. Federal law makes it illegal to harass an eagle or its nest. An active nest must be abandoned for five years before it may be moved. No eagle nest has been seen in the area for fifteen years. County officials advise clearing use of the site with the US Department of Fish and Wildlife. Bottom line it seems our “eagle’s nest area” is owned by us. It can probably be used for whatever purpose property owners might agree upon under Covenant voting rules. And, since its status as a “preserve” appears not to exist it can be maintained as any other common property in The Landings. |
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