I live in a coastal town that has experienced explosive growth over the last eight years.  The Census Bureau estimates it has grown at a rate of almost 50% during that time.  The growth has happened so fast that little changes seem to get lost in the “due process” system but have caused big waves in the community.

One of the surprises that came to light due to this growth was the process for changing road names. Basically today this town’s policy reads that if 51% of the people who own property abutting the road agree, and there is no other road with the same name in the county, then the change is presented to the county commissioners who have final approval. It sounds like a good plan and a rather innocuous process, right? WRONG! The problem comes in that this allows new businesses to manipulate the process. Quite often a business will buy several pieces of property along a roadway, which in turn gives them several votes and what government body is going to vote against a new business when it seems like such a little thing? The problem is that sometimes these roads have been around forever and are widely used by the general public who feel “ownership” for these roads as part of the flavor of the area.

With all the growth, confusion had become the norm and it became a catalyst for those who promoted change versus those who opposed change. The issue was resolved for one particular road in our county when the commissioners finally decided to draw an imaginary line where the road crossed an interstate. To the left – where the road was abutted by the new business – would be renamed, while to the right – where the new business had no property – would remain the same. Confused yet? The residents certainly were and obviously trying to give directions using this particular exit can be confusing. To make matters worse, with the growth that was occurring in our town, the renaming of roads became almost a cottage industry and roads were being renamed at a fast pace. One road name was changed three times in as many years – obviously things were getting out of control. Even the state government itself jumped on the band wagon and took the opportunity to rename major routes – imagine our surprise when suddenly a state road that was known by it’s number suddenly carried the name of A1A. For the last 100 years, A1A had been the name of a road just to the east of this state road. The day I realized the signs had been changed, I immediately turned east to see what the old A1A was now being called, only to find it now carried the name of “Beach Road”. I finally realized why some of the newer residents who had come to me for directions had become lost on their trip – I was using wrong road names.

Another surprise came when the city commissioners launched a major Christmas marketing program. Our town has a strong Spanish heritage and as long as many folks could remember a huge sign proclaiming “Feliz Navidad” had been in a place of prominence in the downtown area during the Christmas season. It was not there because we had a large Spanish population but because the town’s historic heritage had evolved from Spanish ancestors. When the marketing program was launched, a new sign replaced the old, proclaiming only the name of the marketing program “Nights of Lights”. The residents went into a rage. They had not been asked prior to the change and felt the change diluted the charm and historical flavor of the city. Obviously with the amount of dollars spent to kick off the program, it wasn’t fiscally prudent to undo the decision. This “change” remains a bone of contention today for many

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The list of changes for this small community goes on and on. The locals feel “pushed out” and helpless. Many long time residents who have ties all the way back to the original settlers of the area have chosen to move. It’s a sad situation. I ask people all the time why they moved here and almost every person says it’s because they like the small town, European charm of the community. Unfortunately with all the changes and all the growth, the very thing that brings people to the area is disappearing at a fast pace. What will happen in another 10 years? It’s likely we will just be a suburb of the next closest city with nothing left of the “special” atmosphere that was so prevalent. Growth and Government – important factors but all too often the implications of the decisions made by the government to enhance growth is not fully thought out.