Teardown-rebuilds, east-county acreage, and everything between — FWC-authorized gopher tortoise services for Sarasota builders, homeowners, and agents.
Sarasota's tortoise work splits between two very different job types. East of I-75, the Fruitville, Bee Ridge, and Clark Road corridors are converting pine flatwoods and old pasture into communities and commercial pads — classic high-density burrow country. Inside the city, the surprise is how often teardown-rebuild projects on long-established streets turn up an active burrow in an overgrown corner of the lot.
For custom builders and pool contractors working Sarasota's premium neighborhoods, a tortoise found mid-project is a schedule and client-relations problem that a $350 survey would have caught months earlier. For developers east of the interstate, tortoise compliance is simply part of the entitlement checklist — and we make it the easy part.
The law is the same across the county: no disturbance within 25 feet of any burrow without an FWC permit, surveys valid 90 days, relocation only by authorized hands.
From Siesta-adjacent teardowns to east-county land.
Custom builds on established streets. Overgrown lots that sat through a slow demo-to-permit cycle are prime burrow real estate.
Fruitville, Bee Ridge, Clark Road — acreage and development parcels in active flatwood habitat.
High-end outdoor projects where the dig or access path clips the 25-foot buffer of a resident burrow.
Site-plan-level surveys with GPS burrow mapping that drops straight into your civil engineer's exhibits.
City of Sarasota projects permit through the city; unincorporated addresses (Palmer Ranch, Fruitville, Bee Ridge) go through Sarasota County. Both jurisdictions expect gopher tortoise compliance — governed statewide by Rule 68A-27, F.A.C. — resolved before clearing, and county environmental review will flag suspected habitat on development applications.
For architect- and GC-driven projects we deliver the survey as a clean exhibit: GPS coordinates, aerial overlay, and photo log, ready for your permit set. If relocation is needed, the FWC review (2–6 weeks) runs while your building permit does.
The same four steps everywhere we work — most clients only ever make one phone call.
Give us the property address and your timeline. We confirm whether a survey is needed and schedule within 48 hours.
We walk 100% of the parcel, GPS-map every burrow, and deliver an FWC-format written report the next business day.
If tortoises are present, we prepare and submit the FWC relocation permit application for you. Typical review: 2–6 weeks.
Once permitted, we capture and relocate the tortoises to an approved recipient area. You're legal to clear and build.
Same transparent pricing across our whole service area — no location markups.
| Gopher tortoise survey | $350 / quarter acre |
| Relocation (up to 2 tortoises, permit included) | $1,400 |
| Each additional tortoise | +$400 |
| Off-site recipient site fee (waterfront/canal lots — paid to the conservation site) | $5,000 / tortoise |
Full details, examples by lot size, and what's never included: see the pricing page.
Teardown, custom build, or east-county land — we'll survey within 48 hours and keep the tortoise off your critical path.