News and Events

By Julie Larrivee
News Graphic Correspondent

Street names provide direction and offer an identity for an area. While most local governing bodies don't have a set procedure for establishing road monikers in new developments, they do have some informal guidelines to be followed. One general rule across the area is that personal names can no longer be used when designating street names. The village of Grafton, however, is one municipality that does have a structured process for naming their roadways. Building Inspector Tom Johnson heads the five-member committee that determines all of Grafton's street names. The other members of the committee are representatives of the fire, police and public works departments, and the postal service. Johnson says he's not sure when the committee originated, but it was in place when he joined the village staff in 1987.

The naming process begins when the developer presents the plat to the Street Naming Committee. The committee members then select names for the streets On the plat. "In general," Johnson notes, "the names come from three categories trees, birds or Indians. There are very few variances. City of Clint Gridley says his municipality has no formal committee or naming policies. "Typically, the names are determined by the developer," he states. "But when the developer brings those names to the Planning Commission, they are reviewed. The Planning Commission does have veto power over the name selections." Gridley says that as long as the names are "in good taste and appropriate," the Planning Commission usually has no problems with them. He cites only one incident in recent history where proposed names were vetoed.

"A developer was apparently a big Beatles fan and wanted to name the streets after songs - Penny Lane, Abbey Road." While the commission had no problem with the names themselves, there was a thought that the selections might not be quite right for the atmosphere of the Cedarburg area, he said. Gridley noted that in many instances, new streets are extensions of existing ones. In that case, the current name must be maintained; there is no option to create a new identity.

Developer Tom Martin, president of the Freeman Group, says developers like to consider the historical precedence of an area when making their name selections. Long-present and historical families are honored, along with natural formations and area wildlife. "For example, in the town of Cedarburg, there are streets that honor the whitetail deer. Many Grafton streets honor Native Americans - Comanche, Cherokee. Some developers choose to go with an alphabetical list." In a new Cedarburg subdivision, Sarangela Estates, where the Freeman Group is building homes, the three street names were pretty easy to determine. "One is Highland, which was necessary because it is a continuation of an existing street," Martin says. "Another is Sarangela Drive, which is pretty obvious. The third is Hawthorne Lane, which fits well since the homes to the north are named after trees and birds." Martin also notes that the Sarangela development creatively avoided the policy of not using personal names by combining the developer's daughter's names Sarah and Angela into a combination that doesn't sound like a name.

Scott Gosse, administrator of the town of Cedarburg, notes that name choices might be turned down to help eliminate possible sources of confusion. Prompt and efficient responses by emergency personnel are the strongest factors in making sure there is no possible confusion. "Practice allows the applicants to suggest or submit names for a subdivision," says Lee Szymborski, city of Mequon administrator.

"In turn, we have the public safety, services people - fire and police - look at the names to make sure that there are no duplications and that the names won't be misunderstood or confused with other existing names." Lester Bartel, town of Grafton chairman, says his community has had to stop using Ulao because of duplication issues that concerned fire and police officials. "The Ulao name has been used to death," Bartel states. "It becomes a problem for 911. So, we won't be using the name in the future." The chairman notes that the town already has Ulao Parkway, Ulao Parkway South and Ulao Road. And there are two housing developments called Ulao Estates and Port Ulao. Bartel says that in general, the board would like developers to take names that highlight some character of the area and don't detract from the rural character of the town.