What's in a name? When it's posted on a pole prematurely in the Canberra subdivision, it could be a problem.
Lindon officials, while not unhappy with the names selected by developer David Allen and his staff for the streets in the foothill area, were nonplused when Allen presented them last month in City Council meetings.Allen was attempting to satisfy homeowners in the development who believe the street signs are long overdue.
But Lindon officials were anticipating putting the streets on the grid numbering system instead. They rejected the names in their February council meeting until the issue could be studied further.
Tuesday evening councilman Richard Draper explained the confusion that could develop with part of a city's addresses in street names and partly in grid. Draper had been assigned to research the situation.
He said while the post office officials he checked with did not have strong feelings either way, public safety dispatchers did.
"They said it creates tremendous problems for them when they're trying to dispatch an ambulance or a fire truck to an unfamiliar area," said Draper. "They described trying to read a map over the phone to a driver and it wasn't pretty."
Draper said the post office indicated that street names are sometimes easier to recall, but it would be important to avoid having the same name for streets within the same ZIP code area.
Allen said his staff had spent quite a bit of time coming up with good names and hated to waste the effort.
Actually, since the Canberra development has several meandering streets that don't "fit" within the grid system of numbering, Draper told Allen he could probably use most of his names.
The motion passed by the council called for a preference for grid numbering unless the street wanders.
Council members discussed using both numbers and names but decided that was counterproductive. "They do that in Orem," said Mayor Scott Cullimore, "And I think that simply says the naming doesn't work."