2nd renaming goes ahead quietly

When area politicians voted in December to rename one local street in honor of a civil rights leader, they also opened the door on a new renaming issue.

Airport Road will officially change its name to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard on May 8, the 45th anniversary of King’s visit to Chapel Hill.

Now, almost three months after that decision, Town Council members must decide what to do with Martin Luther King Jr. Street — a small byway off Legion Road.

Members of the council’s naming committee — comprising four council members and two representatives of the town’s department of public housing — met Thursday to discuss plans to rename the road.

One common belief was that the street should be named in honor of a prominent figure.

“I think (the street’s namesake) should be somebody in Chapel Hill that was either a human rights activist or an advocate of affordable housing,” said Tina Vaughn, director of the housing department. “And I think that person should be black.”

The committee will meet with residents of the neighborhood — which comprises mostly affordable housing units — March 8 to get recommendations.

Some members also said they wanted to mend “broken fences” with neighbors who might have felt left out of the decision to rename their street.

But after the meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Edith Wiggins met with one former neighborhood resident, who showed her a petition signed by street residents who support the Airport Road renaming.

“This is sort of a quick change in the committee’s thrust for the first meeting,” Town Information Officer Catherine Lazorko said of the unexpected display of support.

One longtime resident of the street says she has no problem with the renaming of her street.

“I would rather see another street named MLK Boulevard,” said Janie Riggsbee, who has lived on the street for 23 years.

Regardless of what the name might be, committee members agreed, they need to work quickly.

“There’s a great deal to be done, even with Airport Road, in a very, very short time,” Lazorko said.

In preparation for the name change, Lazorko and other officials will meet March 22 with citizens who own some of the more than 850 addresses affected by the change.

The purpose of the meeting is to update property owners on the town’s efforts to make the transition easier for them.

The U.S. Postal Service, the county Department of Emergency Management Services, Duke Power and other groups will automatically update their records to reflect the address change, according to the town’s Web site.

But some business owners say the town’s efforts are not enough.

Bruce Johnson, a business owner who served on the special committee that considered the renaming, said the town was not responsive to some of the special committee’s requests.

“I feel like (the renaming) is being crammed down our throats,” Johnson said.

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.