Save the island
To the Editor:
I wholeheartedly agree with the recent articles opposing a new Publix and strip mall on “our” island. Pine Island does not need another grocery store and definitely not a strip mall. This would be the beginning of turning our piece of paradise into just another suburb in Florida. Cape Coral is already expanding closer and closer to Matlacha. If we let big business start building on the island, how long before the island is just one continuous city like Cape Coral and Fort Myers? Don’t fool yourselves into thinking that it can’t happen. People probably didn’t think it would happen to Cape Coral and Fort Myers either. Open your eyes before it’s too late. Pine Island is one of Florida’s last treasures, unblemished by big stores and strip malls. Can we, can Florida, afford to lose another natural beauty?
Islanders are here because they want the laidback lifestyle the island offers. Do the snowbirds come to the island for the shopping or for the relaxed atmosphere provided here? If they come for the shopping, then they should move to Cape Coral. The island already has all the businesses it needs to survive, grocery stores, restaurants, banks, pharmacy, hardware stores, nurseries, laundromat, gas stations, tackle shops, art stores and a liquor store. We have doctors, dentists, a veterinarian, attorneys and real estate offices. What else is there? If you really prefer Publix to Winn-Dixie, then drive the extra six miles it is from the proposed new site to the Publix on Burnt Store Road.
Islanders, we need to unite to stop the demise of our island before it’s too late. We do have a voice if we just speak up and let our representatives know how we feel. Together we can save our “little piece of paradise.”
Becky Read
St. James City