Pine Island doesn’t need ‘Coporate America’

Mar 29, 2011 2 min read

To the editor:

Thanks for publishing a sampling of the hundreds of complaints against Dollar General and their failure to comply with the Pine Island Plan. I too have sent complaints to both Dollar General and to Lee County, neither of whom responded.

It broke my heart to see all of those trees and animals bulldozed and replaced with pavement. I guess we’ll have no problem with those pesky deer, wild hogs or tortoises that I used to see over there.

Dollar General seems to have erased its neighboring businesses with its tacky yellow signage and supersized building! Yet other businesses, like the “Pine Island Feed Store” have managed to blend into the community with a welcoming presence and charm, subdued lighting and minimal signage.

I’ve heard that Dollar General plans to modify their signage, but that doesn’t take away their excessive lighting, huge parking lot, and subsequent widening of Stringfellow. They have more lights than the Winn-Dixie shopping center which houses lots of businesses. Our skies should remain dark at night, and our foliage and animals should not have been destroyed.

Pine Islanders need to boycott Dollar General to send a message to them and to the other “Corporate America” companies who may be contemplating a similar move here. Next we’ll have WalMart with an “Old Florida” metal roof and a token oak tree that will then supposedly fit into the “Pine Island Plan.”

I plan to boycott the store and ask fellow Pine Islanders to do the same. Let’s support our local businesses who were here first and who do a great job of servicing this community.

I’d like to see Dollar General on the “short sale” list and then taken over by a more island-friendly and appropriate business.

Ndakhte Ndiaye

St. James City