Vacaville considers renaming street after Martin Luther King, Jr.
VACAVILLE — The City of Vacaville is considering changing the name of a street to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and it could impact hundreds of people who live there.
It's an effort to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On Vanden Road, many people support the idea but others have concerns.
Vanden Road is named after one of the city's early pioneers. The Vanden family settled in the area and opened a store in the 1880s
However, Vacaville city leaders are now considering changing the name to honor the slain civil rights leader.
"It's past due," Councilmember Sarah Chapman said. "Why haven't we had a street named after MLK?"
Chapman said there are more than 1,000 cities across the country that already have a street named after the national hero.
"So why not here? We're way behind the times," she said.
Many people support naming a street in his honor.
"I think it's a great name," Vacaville resident Brandi Berumen said. "I'm all for it if they do decide to make that change."
But it also means the people who live on this street would need to change their address.
"It would be a hassle for everybody to have to do that," Vanden Road resident Michal Valdepena said.
Valdepena is among the 268 homeowners who would be impacted.
"All of our bills, or mortgage, PG&E, water, garbage would all have to be changed to the new Martin Luther King," he said.
Still, he supports the proposed new name, saying "it would be a good thing."
Others think it would be a better idea to add an MLK street in one of the new neighborhoods under construction.
"They're building so many different houses with streets that they haven't named," Vacaville resident Jonathon Berumen said. "They definitely could have picked one of those streets to rename rather than a street that's been here for so long."
The city says it will cost nearly $90,000 to change the street name. Supporters say it's worth the price to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, memory.
"We don't want to disrupt much but yet, I want to give justice to his name and to his legacy," Chapman said.
On Tuesday night, the city council could not agree on renaming Vanden Road after Dr. King, but they voted to look at naming a new street after the civil rights leader.
