Citizen Portal
Sign In

Committee approves renaming portion of Confederate Street to Rose Arbor Way after CPAC support

Transportation, Energy, and Utilities Committee · April 9, 2026

Loading...

AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

The Transportation, Energy and Utilities Committee voted 5–1 to pass ordinance 20260140 as amended, renaming the Market-to-Liberty segment of Confederate Street to Rose Arbor Way after Urban Core CPAC testified in favor and the applicant accepted a narrowed proposal.

The Transportation, Energy and Utilities Committee voted to pass ordinance 20260140 as amended, renaming the Market-to-Liberty segment of Confederate Street to Rose Arbor Way.

The committee took up the ordinance after a public hearing in which Ernest Smith, chair of the Urban Core CPAC, said his committee had discussed the proposal the night before and voted unanimously to support it. "We brought up the issue last night... and we voted unanimously to support this ordinance 20260140," Smith told the committee. Cindy Trimmer, representing the applicant (Downtown Ecumenical Services Center and the owner of 956 Liberty Street), said the applicant was comfortable with renaming the portion that borders their property and described the change as a compromise: "We would appreciate support of the amendment... the applicant is comfortable with the amendment that would change the name of the portion that borders their property."

Why it mattered: Council members debated whether to remove the Confederate name entirely or accept a section-specific change. Staff and Office of General Counsel advised the committee that, because the renamed segment is not contiguous across Market Street, the amendment removing a prior code-waiver requirement would put the measure in a posture that does not require a two-thirds waiver at council. Cherry Pollock (OGC) confirmed 911 review had approved the name change and did not need to be re-routed to 911 because the segments are technically noncontiguous.

The committee considered a motion to defer the item so CPAC members could speak at full council night. Councilwoman Clark Murray said she wanted "to hear from the community as a whole before we vote" and moved to defer. Opponents noted there will be a public hearing at the full council meeting the following Tuesday and preferred to move the item forward. A hand vote on the deferral resulted in a 3–3 tie, so the deferral failed.

After the failed deferral, a motion to move the bill as amended passed. The committee recorded 5 yays and 1 nay and passed ordinance 20260140 as amended to rename the Market-to-Liberty portion of Confederate Street to Rose Arbor Way. Councilwoman Clark Murray thanked the CPAC and urged members of the public to attend the council public hearing on the fourteenth.

The ordinance will next go to the full City Council, which is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the measure on April 14.