Roswell giving new names to 10 streets

By Ralph Ellis

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

After months of sometimes heated discussions, Roswell quietly has decided to rename 10 streets.

Police Chief Ed Williams said the changes are scheduled to go into effect March 28 -- three months after city council approval. New street signs will be installed and notification letters sent to 67 affected residences.

Most of the changes were minor. Cherry Street becomes Cherry Way, for example, and Plum Street becomes Plum Tree Street.

Still, many residents complained last summer when public safety officials came up with a list of 30 streets they wanted to rename.

The city of about 100,000 people has a lot of streets with the same or similar-sounding names because of annexations and because developers used to name subdivision streets without City Hall clearance. City officials were worried police, fire and emergency medical workers eventually would make a mistake and go to the wrong address while answering a call.

But residents said public safety workers hadn't made a mistake yet and improved technology would lessen the chances of error. They predicted the change would result in lost mail and unnecessary expense in changing documents.

The City Council decided not to change a street name if any resident objected, knocking 20 streets off the list. As a precaution, police are advising residents of those unchanged streets to mention their subdivision name when calling 911.

The council approved the new names Monday night by unanimous vote. Nobody showed up to complain. Mayor Jere Wood thanked Williams for wrapping up the project before his retirement.

Renaming streets has created controversy in Atlanta, too. That city approved a 2003 procedure for changing street names that requires 75 percent approval of a street’s residents. But critics are complaining the city circumvented the policy in recent years to honor local politicians and civil rights leaders.

Staff writer Steve Visser contributed to this article.