Council will wait to name street in honor of Rhodes
By Andrew Bell
Published in News on March 7, 2006 1:59 PM
The Goldsboro City Council held off on a decision to rename a portion of Wayne Avenue in honor of a former council member J.B. Rhodes Sr. until more research is done.
Council members met Monday night at City Hall.
Some residents have proposed the city rename the portion of Wayne Avenue between John and George streets after Rhodes, who served for 16 years on the council.
Planning Director Randy Guthrie said members of the city Planning Commission believed the honor was merited, but were worried that changing the name of a road arbitrarily could cause confusion for residents and emergency services.
Council member Charles Williams said Rhodes is deserving of the honor.
"Anyone who knows the facts can't deny that no councilman, living or dead, has done more for Goldsboro," Williams said.
Council members Bob Waller and Don Chatman agreed but said they wanted to wait for city planners to look for an alternative that would honor Rhodes and reduce the possibility of confusing motorists.
At a public hearing last month, two people spoke in favor of the change, while another spoke against. Goldsboro resident John Thompson said Monday that officials could find a better way to honor Rhodes and other people who have helped the community through public service. When the new Stoney Creek Park is completed, Thompson said, it should include an area that recognizes local officials and their accomplishments. This could include Rhodes, along with former mayors and councilmen, he said.
"If we single out just one from the group, we diminish the honor that is rightfully due to the others who also have long years of service," Thompson said.
The council members had intended to review and revise the city's Unified Development Ordinance during a work session prior to their meeting, but with more than a dozen items on the agenda, they were not able to reach a decision on any one issue.
The council did discuss election signs that have begun to be posted around the city.
City law allows candidates to erect signs 60 days before an election. City Attorney Tim Finan said this should include the primary and early voting period.
The primary is scheduled for May 2 and early voting begins several weeks before that, making the signs legal, Finan said.
The same city law requires candidates to take down all signs within 10 days of the election. Council members said they would work to ensure that the law is followed.
"The candidates have a big incentive to get the signs up, but it's not too big to get them down," Finan said.
The council also held a public hearing on a request for contiguous annexation of about six acres of land adjacent to Mimosa Park West, on the east side of New Hope Road between Cuyler Best Road and Shelley Drive.
Guthrie said the land contains 12 lots and is in the final stage of development. The developers need the annexation to record the final plat and wanted the city to approve the annexation, he said.
Since no one spoke for or against the annexation request, the council unanimously approved it.