HERALD-TRIBUNE (Sarasota, Florida) 12 July 07 Charlotte reptile business must find a new home (Kate Spinner)
Port Charlotte: Zelph and Janice Ridgeway are up to their ears in alligators, but not for long if they choose to stay on Kindred Boulevard.
County laws are forcing the couple to move their 400 snakes, crocodiles and alligators out of the residential neighborhood where they live.
On Wednesday, the couple appealed to the Charlotte County Zoning Board for a special exception that would have allowed them to keep running their reptile business in the neighborhood. The board voted no.
"If he was in an agricultural district, it possibly could have been approved," said Ken Quillen, a county planner.
Ridgeway Reptiles has been in business on Kindred Avenue since 1999. And at least since 2003, the Ridgeways have held permits with the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to exhibit and sell reptiles and to possess poisonous snakes.
They do not exhibit the animals, however. Instead, they sell over the Internet and at reptile shows. The company Web site advertises everything from caimans to boa constrictors.
The most expensive reptile listed is an albino lavender reticulated python for $7,500. Alligators cost $100 a foot.
From the front of the Kindred Boulevard home, two trucks bearing the company name are the only hints that a 10-foot gator and a 20-foot python live in the backyard.
But a different world emerges outside the kitchen door where a hallway, lined floor-to-ceiling with boxes of snakes, leads to a backyard that looks like a miniature zoo.
On Wednesday, crocodiles lounged beside a caged pool, iguanas chomped on lettuce, and an albino raccoon awaited dinnertime.
The Ridgeways often take in rare albino animals or exotics that other pet owners no longer want.
Larry Gregory, an investigator for the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said county officials should have known for years about Ridgeway's business.
"He's had the same facility and snakes there for quite some time, so it's not something that's recent," Gregory said.
But county code enforcement got a complaint and sent Ridgeway a letter in March to let him know that he was violating county laws that prohibit businesses in residential neighborhoods. Instead of getting rid of the reptiles, he appealed to the zoning board for a special exception.
Exceptions have been granted for hairdressers and home offices, but not for businesses that are visible from the outside of the home, Quillen said. The Ridgeways' closest neighbor is a couple of lots away.
If Ridgeway does not remove the reptiles within about 60 days, the county could start fining him $250 a day.
The Ridgeways plan to move the reptiles to property in DeSoto County.
The couple also hopes they will be able to get back their big cats, which were taken away by state wildlife officials.
Early this year, wildlife officials cited Ridgeway for keeping leopards, tigers and cougars on property that was too small.
The big cats have since been housed at Octagon, a wildlife rehabilitation center in south Charlotte County, Gregory said.
Ridgeway's court hearing to get the cats back is scheduled for Tuesday in Charlotte County.
Charlotte reptile business must find a new home