Twelve years ago, Jeff and Kathleen Bale built their home in Air Park, their address etched into the stone of their one-story, brick “forever†home.Â
Kaylea and Matt Scdoris moved in next door in 2017 — the only two homes on a small street on the southern end of the Hub Hall Heights development northeast of Northwest 48th and West Holdrege streets.Â
Neither family has plans to move, but city officials informed them recently their addresses might change anyway.Â
Turns out, West Chitwood Lane should, according to city ordinance, be Northwest Chitwood Lane because of its location. Streets west of First Street and north of O Street that run north-south, the ordinance says, should include the prefix "northwest."
Originally, developers planned to continue West Chitwood as an east-west running street, thus the name, but plans changed — and nobody noticed the name issue, Planning Director David Cary told the City Council.
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It came to city planners' attention recently because development is happening in the area again, he said.
All of which led a city naming committee to recommend the name change, which in turn would require a change in house numbers — 4500 block of West Chitwood to 1600 block of Northwest Chitwood.
And all that brought Jeff Bale and Kaylea Scdoris to city hall last week.Â
Bale told the council that both his house number and the Scdoris’ are etched into the stone of their homes and to change that would cost each of them $1,500 — estimates they got from a local business. Add to that the time it would take to notify doctors, the Department of Motor Vehicles and everybody else, and it’s a pricey, time-consuming effort.Â
Bale said he has health issues and it’s important that doctors know how to reach him immediately. He figured if it took 10 minutes to notify each of his contacts it would take upward of 53 hours and — based on minimum wage — cost close to $500. Â
“That’s quite an impact on us,†he said. “This is kind of our forever home. We built it 12 years ago and plan to be here forever. We love Lincoln. My wife was born here. I moved here in third grade.â€
Scdoris told the council she runs a child care business out of her home, and a new address would mean updating all her business records, business cards and advertising, as well as notifying all her clients.Â
When she got married, she took two days off to do everything necessary to change her name.Â
“We got married two years ago and I know what it took to change my last name and that was a choice,†she said.Â
Taking two days off work now, she said, would cost her $420.
One of the main reasons the street naming guidelines are followed consistently is to make sure emergency vehicles can easily find homes, Cary said.Â
There are several ways to handle this situation, he told the council last week, including keeping the address West Chitwood all the way to West Holdrege. It wouldn’t follow the guidelines, but at least the street name wouldn’t change from West Chitwood to Northwest Chitwood somewhere in the middle of the street.Â
The council was supposed to vote on the issue Monday, and Councilwoman Tammy Ward said she planned to make a motion to keep the two addresses the same but instead asked to delay the vote until Sept. 13 based on the recommendation of the city attorney.Â
City Attorney Yohance Christie said he wanted time to talk through the potential risks of keeping the address the same with planners, fire and police officials, as well as make sure the homeowners understood those risks.Â
Bale and Scdoris made their position clear last week.
“We don’t think it should be changed,†Bale said. “If we can’t convince people not to change the address ... we feel like the city or whomever is in charge needs to reimburse us for those costs and give us a timeline so we can be prepared for a smooth transition.â€
Reach the writer at 402-473-7226 or mreist@journalstar.com.
On Twitter @LJSreist
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Margaret Reist
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