NICEVILLE— The city may have earned itself a new nickname following the removal of dozens of trees along Rocky Bayou Road to make room for the new Publix grocery.
Their absence has angered some people.
“This is Niceville, not Clearcutsville,” one person wrote in to the Daily News. “Why so many trees had to be sacrificed is beyond me.”
City officials say they were caught off guard by the number of trees that were removed.
“We should have known that’s what would happen, but we didn’t,” City Manager Lannie Corbin said. “I hate to see any tree down, and I’m also disappointed that they’re gone.”
He said the site engineer told city officials the area was cleared to help level out the construction site. Other commercial buildings are expected to be added there.
Corbin said a roundabout also will be built on Rocky Bayou Road where the trees once stood.
The town’s newest grocery store is expected to open early in 2014.
Not all residents were upset by the change.
Linda Gillette, who moved to the area in 2002, said the arrival of Publix and the removal of the trees is just a part of Niceville’s growth.
“It’s not trees that make Niceville, it’s the people,” Gillette said. “It looks so totally different coming down the road, but it’s progress. I think a lot of people are excited to have Publix here.”
But longtime Niceville resident Dick Hickson said the bare strip of land reminds him of a classic song.
“Paved paradise to put in a parking lot’,” Hickson said, shaking his head in the parking lot of Wal-Mart. “It takes away from the country feel of Niceville. It’s a step in the wrong direction.
“It’s just pure sand and dirt. They could have left those trees, by golly.”
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Angel McCurdy at 850-315-4432 or amccurdy@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @AngelMnwfdn.
