Town faces backlash over concerning plans for park: 'It's disgusting that someone would do this'

One Florida city is facing criticism after it confirmed plans to fell numerous trees for new pickleball courts.

A TikTok account called Beyond Florida (@beyondflorida) made a video showing trees around Tom Petty Park in Gainesville marked with orange paint. The creator explained that the greenery would be torn down to accommodate more recreational space. Beyond Florida said that the trees are between 50 and 60 years old.

"Has the pickleball craze gone too far?" they questioned.

@beyondflorida #pickleball #floridaenvironment #environment #florida ♬ original sound - Beyond Florida

There are more than 1,200 pickleball courts in the Sunshine State, according to the sports blog Pickleheads. Beyond Florida questioned whether the sport was a fad worth chopping down parts of the forest for. The pickleball project will impact 19 trees and add eight courts to Tom Petty Park, according to WCJB.

While Beyond Florida praised officials for being transparent about construction, they also raised concerns over how the project would impact local residents. They said neighbors may find the noise and lights disruptive.

Several users protested the tree cutting. They said it was "ridiculous" to add more pickleball courts to an already saturated area.

"They just need to take empty stores/malls and repurpose them into pickle ball courts and apartments. Instead of destroying our lands and parks," a commenter said.

"It's disgusting that someone would do this to beautiful, well-developed trees," another person wrote.

Not only would tree felling remove a beautiful part of the park, it could also disrupt the local ecosystem. Construction can displace wildlife from their habitats and scare off essential pollinators, which can be a problem for human residents. Forested areas can also absorb carbon pollution, slowing the overheating of the planet that has contributed to increasingly frequent and severe extreme weather.

It appears that there has been thought given to the tree removal. WCJB reported that the city at least assessed the long-term health of each tree chosen for felling.

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"The city will remove six trees in poor health and will plant 36 new trees across the park," a spokesperson said. "An additional 13 trees will be removed to make improvements to the multi-use trail and to build the southern seating area and new pickleball courts. The city is also attempting to purchase more than 5 acres to the west and southwest of the park to preserve additional urban forest land."

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