HOPKINSVILLE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – A new street renaming policy was brought to the Hopkinsville Committee of the Whole that sets more regulations in place in an attempt to keep things fair and adhere to standards other cities have set.
“We’ve had a lot of street renaming requests in the past six, seven months. More than we’ve had in the last 22 years,” said Mike Perry, director of Public Works, during Thursday’s meeting.
The proposed policy states it will provide citizens with a chance to honor individuals who have made notable contributions to the community and will set consistent standards for the future. All applications for renaming will go through Public Works, E911, and the mayor’s office, and ultimately the decision will rest on the City Council.
Perry added that renaming streets has a big impact on residents and businesses who have to deal with address changes. These changes can affect mail and bank information and are often expensive for business owners. Because of this, Perry is looking to have 100% agreement of all people on the affected street.
No names of living people
Some of the proposed regulations include the street name being under 14 characters, it cannot honor a living person or a commercial entity, and it should have significant historical value to the city. Also, the name cannot be perceived offensive to segments of the city’s citizenry.
This sparked discussion on the committee, resulting in Councilmember Natasha Francis making a motion to amend the policy to allow streets to be named after living people. She said she believes extraordinary people in the community have the right to be honored while they are still living, instead of their family pursuing it after they have passed.
A few months ago, Francis helped facilitate the renaming of Paster CE Timberlake Way, in honor of a living pastor who resided on and owned the church on the street he is named after.
City Administrator Tom Body warned that many cities have this policy in place to avoid having to retract street names due to unpleasant behavior from individuals in the future. “You don’t want to put yourself in an embarrassing situation because you find out they’re a monster and it embarrasses the city, and we have to undo it.”
The motion to amend the regulation, to allow streets to be named after living people, was approved 5-4. Voting yes were Francis, Doug Wilcox, Jamie Lienburger, Matthew Handy and Donald Marsh. Voting no were Travis Martin, Steve Keel, Chuck Crabtree and Bruce Smiley.
The amended policy will now head to Hopkinsville City Council for a first and second reading.
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