WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. -- A newly discovered nest of bald eagles is fueling doubts about the future of a new downtown in Winter Springs. The city has an $800 million project that would drastically overhaul the area, but bald eagles are living right in the middle of it.

The nest is at the top of a cell phone tower. Experts said it was another sign of less natural habitat for the birds and now the city of Winter Springs may have to do some adapting of its own.

Between traffic, city hall and Winter Springs High School is an American icon perched on a monument to Central Florida's growth. A pair of eagles chose to build a nest 150 feet up with none of the privacy Mother Nature usually provides.

"This pair, we have seen them mating on the cell tower, which is a good sign," said Lynda White, Audubon Center for Birds of Prey.

While it's a great opportunity for eagle expert Lynda White, it's a potential problem for the city of Winter Springs. The urban eagles are potentially too close to the ongoing development of an $800 million town center project, so the city hired an environmentalist to figure out what to do next.

"We don't know what the impacts would be on the master plan, but that's what we'd ask our environmentalist to assist us with," said city manager Ron McLemore.

While the bald eagle is no longer on the endangered species list, White said they're still protected and that could put the brakes on any major construction within about 600 feet of the nest.

"Worst case, if the city wanted to build something within the territory that we think should not be disturbed, they would be asked to wait until the birds are not here," White said.

If the eagles choose to lay eggs, that means they could stay on top of the cell tower well into next year. White said the tower is actually prime eagle territory and there could be as many as four or five other pairs within just a few miles of the area.

Believe it or not, Florida has the third largest population of bald eagles in the nation, after Alaska and Minnesota. The eagles spend an entire hurricane season building a nest. Eaglets tend to hatch in January and spend the next ten to 12 weeks in that nest.