Planning Commission rejects ‘humorous’ street names in Olsen South Chandler Plan

Commissioners call for more thoughtful naming

PASO ROBLES — It’s back to the drawing board to come up with some new street names for portions of the Olsen South Chandler Specific Plan. Some names were proposed for Planning Areas (PA) 9, 4, and 5 of the Olsen South Chandler Specific Plan area, East of Creston Road, North of Meadowlark Road, along Linne Road, during the Tuesday, June 25 Planning Commission meeting — however, some of those names received disapproval from the commissioners and public.

Street names are provided by the developer and then approved by Planning Commission before final approval by City Council. Before presenting to commissioners, staff reviewed the proposed list of street names and reportedly removed about five names due to conflicts with existing streets in the city or county.

Proposed Street names for PA-9:

• Pinot Place
• Cork Tree Place
• Tasting Lane
• Wine Club Court
• Wino Street
• Boxed Wine Street
• Red Blend Place
• Table Wine Street
• Tipsy Terrace Road
• Grape Escape Road
• Merlot Manor Road
• Grape Crusader Place
• Estate Wine Lane
• Molly Road
• Walt Lane
• Vinny Lane
• Aarons Place
• Rands Place
• Lucy Drive

Proposed Street names for PA-4&5:

• Gran Reserva
• Mazzini
• Olive Hill
• Vinaza
• Porto
• Verdejo
• Botte
• Via del Corso

Staff did preface by saying they recognized some concerns over some of the names which was brought up by members of the public and commissioners. Some concerns came from the public over the appropriateness over some of the names and that they were too “humorous.” It was requested that some more time could have been taken by developersto select names for the streets that had more ties to the essence of Paso Robles.

Paso Robles resident Jan Hop called into public comment, saying that the street names should be named after the “movers and shakers” of the city.

Hop told commissioners the names should “Carry on that tradition as we do with the schools … Paso Robles is so special that we need special names for these streets.”

A total of 16 street names are needed for PA 9, 4, and 5. Some names that commissioners wanted to be replaced were Wino Street, Boxed Wine Street, and Tipsy Terrace Road.

However, Commissioner Joel Neel felt the list of names needed to be rethought entirely: “I’m just a little disappointed that I don’t think the developer took this seriously … I think it needs to go back and be rethought and be taken seriously. Because these names remain for a very long time.”

Commissioner Robert Covarrubias agreed saying, “I think my fellow Commissioner Neel, I think he hit it right on the head.”

Commissioners then approved with a 5-0 vote to move forward with the names proposed for PA4 and 5 but sent back names proposed for PA9 for further review. Street names will come back to the Planning Commission for review at the Tuesday, July 9, meeting.