Let's Grow Chipley, The Right Way

I’ve heard the whispers over coffee at the corner café and in the aisles of my own store. "I hope Chipley never changes," someone will say. "I'd hate to see us turn into another faceless town off I-10." I understand that sentiment more than anyone. My family has watched this town ebb and flow for generations, and its quiet, neighborly charm is the reason we've stayed.

But I believe we are confusing "change" with "destruction." The truth is, a town that doesn't change, that doesn't grow, is a town that is slowly dying.

Stagnation is not preservation. It’s a slow fade. It means watching our brightest kids leave for college and never come back because there are no jobs for them here. It means seeing our historic downtown buildings sit empty because new entrepreneurs can’t get the support they need. It means forgoing the amenities and services that an expanded tax base could provide for our schools, our parks, and our first responders.

We are at a crossroads. We have an opportunity to welcome new families and new businesses, but we must do it on our own terms. This isn’t about chasing every developer who comes knocking. It’s about creating a thoughtful plan for smart growth.

Smart growth means incentivizing businesses that complement our town's character, not replace it. It means investing in infrastructure that can support a larger population without sacrificing our green spaces. It means zoning with foresight, ensuring that new housing developments have parks and sidewalks, fostering the very sense of community we’re afraid of losing. It means championing the farmer’s market just as much as we court a new distribution center.

We cannot put a wall around Chipley to keep it frozen in time. The world will keep moving, and we owe it to the next generation to move with it—thoughtfully, deliberately, and with a clear vision for the future. Let’s not be afraid of growth; let’s be the architects of it.