By NEIL ZOLOT
WAKEFIELD – The Planning Board is preparing a Proposed Street Name Change Bylaw for Town Meeting “to adopt a new Article V of Chapter 175 of the General Bylaws, to be entitled ‘Street Names and Numbers.’”
Why do this now?
“Someone approached Town Hall and asked if there was a process, but there isn’t one,” Planning Board member Matt Lowry said during the planners’ video conference meeting Tuesday, September 27. “There was no action because there’s no procedure. It’s a Planning Board that usually does this. We wanted something on the books.”
Neither he nor the other members mentioned the street that was the subject of the inquiry. “We wanted to undertake this without a specific name change in mind to have the process in a neutral setting,” member Jim Hogan explained.
The proposed bylaw currently reads, in part:
“Street Name Changes: Any person proposing to change the name of an existing street shall follow the procedures set forth in this bylaw, which applies to all ways within the town (whether public or private) that are open to use by the public. This bylaw shall be construed and applied consistently with Massachusetts statutory procedure for street naming.
“Eligible Streets and Names: No street shall be renamed if it has been initially named, or if its name has been changed, within the preceding 25 years. Proposed names must not be identical or confusingly similar to that of any existing way in town. No proposed street name shall be used to honor any living person or any business entity. Proposed street names shall not have more characters than set by the DPW regulations.”
In addition, the proposed bylaw requires “the proponent of a street name change shall file a written application with the Town Clerk, together with a filing fee of $800. The application need not follow any particular format, but shall at, a minimum, identify the existing way that is proposed to be renamed; state the proposed new street name and be signed by the proponent.
“The Town Clerk shall, within 10 days after receipt of the application and fee, forward a copy to the Fire Chief, Police Chief and Town Engineer. The Planning Board shall conduct a public hearing on the application for a street name change within 30 days after receiving the application and list of abutting owners and residents from the Town Clerk. Prior to the public hearing, the Fire Chief, Police Chief and Town Engineer shall each give his or her written report and recommendation to the Planning Board with respect to the proposed change. The Planning Board shall vote on whether to recommend the proposed name change to the Town Council within 30 days after the opening of the public hearing and shall forward its recommendation to the Town Council forthwith following such vote.
“The Town Council shall promptly review and act on the recommendation by the Planning Board with respect to the proposed street name change. If the Town Council approves the name change, in addition to notifying the applicant and the Town Clerk, it shall request payment from the applicant to cover the cost of changing and installing all applicable signage, and sending notice of the change by certified mail, return receipt requested, to all persons residing on the affected street or owning property thereon. No action shall be taken on the name change until such payment is received.”
The Planning Board did not formally approve the matter, although passage is imminent. Rather, they will wait until their early October meeting “to tighten up language,” in the words of Chairman Theodore Noell.
Lowry thinks there will be some public comments and reactions if people watch the meeting after the fact. “We should try to make it an open process,” he advised, although no members of the public tuned into what was listed as a Public Forum on the proposal on the agenda.
