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Commission approves five street-name recommendations; Fifth Street Circle renamed 'Old Rock Road' despite dissent
Summary
The commission approved five separate street-name recommendations to resolve inconsistent platting and addressing; notable actions included renaming a platted but unbuilt Fifth Street Circle to Old Rock Road (4–1) and standardizing Commercial to Commercial Avenue and renumbering a segment into the 140 series, all to be forwarded as resolutions to the Board of Aldermen.
Smithville’s Planning Commission voted on and approved five separate recommendations to standardize and correct legacy street names and addressing that staff says can cause confusion for emergency response and future development.
Jack, the planning staff presenter, outlined the recommendations: normalize older single-digit numbered streets by spelling out 'Fifth,' 'Fourth,' and 'Third' where those names appeared in older plats; change one platted but unbuilt 'Fifth Street Circle' in the Weatherstone area to a more distinctive name; standardize all segments of 'Commercial' to 'Commercial Avenue' (the historic plat name); and renumber a westward segment of Commercial into the 140-series numeric addressing for geographic consistency.
On the Weatherstone plat street, a motion by a commissioner to change 'Fifth Street Circle' to 'Old Rock Road' carried on a voice vote 4–1. The transcript records one commissioner objecting to that change, calling it "ridiculous." Jack said the platted street has not been constructed and that adopting a consistent name now reduces future confusion for addressing and emergency response.
Other votes: a motion to spell out 'Fourth' and keep 'Terrace' passed 5–0; a motion to rename 'Third Street Terrace' and variants to 'Third Terrace' passed 4–1; a motion to designate Commercial consistently as 'Commercial Avenue' passed 5–0; and a motion to change the Commercial segment west to the 140-series numeric address passed 5–0. Jack said these five recommendations will be forwarded to the Board of Aldermen next week as separate resolutions for formal action.
Why it matters: staff emphasized that consistent street names and numbering reduce 9‑1‑1 addressing confusion and aid navigation as new subdivisions are developed. Some commissioners raised stylistic preferences and community sentiment about names, while others emphasized practical addressing and emergency-service considerations.
Next steps: staff will place the five recommended resolutions on the Board of Aldermen agenda next week for final approval and a later sign-change program will implement name changes over time.
