By Dara Blanchette
Utah is a state known for its grid system and in Utah County, the numbered streets are here to stay.
But some residents might prefer personalized street names, and for these people, each city in Utah County has its own process for changing street names.
PROVO
A citizen who wants to change a street name must fill out an application with the Community Development Department, said Tiffany Sherbel, a legal assistant for the Provo City Council.
The Engineering Department reviews the request and gives their recommendations, Sherbel said. They usually deny any request to change a street number to a name, while requests to change cul-de-sac street names are more often approved.
The engineers'' recommendations are then sent to the municipal council for the final decision with a vote. If the street name is approved, the applicant pays for the new street sign, Sherbel said.
Even with a set process, a change of name rarely happens, Sherbel said. Only one street name has been changed in the last two years while the process has been the same since 1999.
OREM
The city council handles requests to change street names, but there is no set process for citizens to follow, said Cliff Peterson, a private development engineer in Orem. A citizen fills out an agenda request as he or she would for any other item for city council consideration.
In the past 13 years only one street name has been changed and that was three or four years ago, Peterson said.
SPRINGVILLE
Springville like Orem does not have a set process. When new streets or subdivisions are built developers submit the names they want and the city usually assigns numbers for the grid system, said Marcie Clark, the public works secretary.
Numbers are preferred over names for emergency response situations, she said.
The developers can name a street any name they want as long as it is not duplicating another name.
Citizens who want to change a street name bring the request to the city council who makes the final decision, Clark said.
SPANISH FORK
Spanish Fork has a similar system to Springville.
'Typically we name the streets as they are built, and number them as possible,' said Richard Nelson, assistant public director for Spanish Fork.
The staff usually names the streets unless the city council wants a specific name, Nelson said.
If citizens want to change a street name, they can file an agenda request with the city council. But Nelson said, this has never happened.
LEHI
There is no set process in Lehi that outlines how to change street names and no street names have been changed. There are steps that would need to be taken if one was changed.
When a new subdivision plot is recorded, it is given grid numbers for straight streets and names for curved or non-straight streets. These names can''t be the same as another intersection or numbered street, said Christie Hutchings, a city planner for Lehi.
If a citizen would like to change a street name, everyone in the subdivision must agree to the change. The request then goes to the city council.
If the change is approved, four offices must be notified: the Utah County Recorder''s Office, the Tax Assessor''s Office, the County Sheriff''s Office and the Public Works Department.
The police must also be notified so they know where to be dispatched in an emergency situation, Hutchings said.
Hutchings said a name change has never happened in Lehi.
AMERICAN FORK
Street names can be changed through city council resolutions, said Howard Denny, an engineer for American Forks Public Works.
The street would retain its number for 911 emergencies, Denny said.
One street changed through a city council resolution is Kawakami Drive, located at 600 West and 130 North in American Fork, Denny said.
Charles Kawakami was a long time resident who has died at the age of 101, Denny said.