Not quite a full tribute: San Diego officials streamline ‘honorary’ naming of streets

Reporting from San Diego —  San Diego is making it easier to name portions of city streets after prominent people and organizations by creating a streamlined “honorary” policy.

Instead of changing the name of a street, San Diego will post a second sign at affected intersections identifying it also as an honorary street.

The policy is modeled after similar approaches in New York City, Chicago and Memphis, Tenn.

Officials said the change will allow San Diego to honor more people more quickly because the process will be much easier, while also avoiding the hassles faced by residents and businesses when the name of their street gets officially changed.

“Individuals and organizations with full support of the public deserve to have a streamlined process without the red tape,” City Council President Myrtle Cole said when the policy was unanimously approved this month.

Cole said she proposed the change after it took seven years for the city to rename a small residential street in southeastern San Diego after Lakiba Palmer, who was killed in action 16 years ago when terrorists attacked the Navy’s guided-missile destroyer Cole in Yemen.

Councilman Scott Sherman said the change would be welcomed by residents and businesses on affected streets.

“It’s a big hassle to change billing addresses, mailing addresses, business cards — all those things,” Sherman said.

Officials said the policy doesn’t eliminate the opportunity to officially change a street name, but it creates a less formal way to honor people when that seems like the appropriate move.

The honorary street name signs will have brown backgrounds and a white border, in contrast to San Diego’s official street signs with green or blue backgrounds. They will be placed either above or below the official street sign.

The policy also limits honorary name changes to one block and requires support from community leaders and the council member representing the district where the street is located.

Each council member will be limited to two honorary name changes per four-year term in office, and money for the signs will come from the budget of their council offices. The signs are expected to cost between $120 and $285, depending on various factors.

The policy also stipulates that an organization must have been operating in San Diego for at least 25 years to be honored.

david.garrick@sduniontribune.com

Garrick writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.