We submitted a subdivision to a planning commission, and the planning commission director is very dry and has absolutely no sense of humor--strictly business. Prior to submitting the subdivision to the planning commission, the developer asked me what he should name it. For some crazy unknown reason, except that it consisted of only 9 lots, I suggested that he name it Itty Bitty. He loved the name, and so we put it on the plat. During initial planning commission review the director, with same no humor mode, announced the subdivision when it came up, saying our next subdivsion is No. 3, and is named Itty Bitty. He hated saying it, was embarrassed, and he must have felt like it was a joke aimed at him. It passed, and went to final committee in public hearing, and once again he had to announce the name, this time getting red faced. One of the commissioners, who reminds me of Shotgun Slade, and wears cowboy boots with bluejeans inside his boots, said, "ITTY BITTY?" Is that ITTY BITTY? Should they have named it LITTLE BITTY? You have to picture a 6'6" redneck shotgun slade from Louisiana saying that. Then some lady in the audience started laughing, and that stupid name almost caused an uproar. 60 or so people mumbling Itty Bitty. I was glad to get out of there, but I am still laughing. And maybe 100 years down the road some surveyor will be surveying a lot in Itty Bitty and will see my signature and stamp right below it--if they are still surveying in those days. Crazy.
Have had the opportunity to draw up several potential subdivisions to represent possible ways to layout the total tract into appropriate sized lots/blocks. Usually we would create at least one 'fun' option. Street names might be unusual, for example. In one case I had a slightly curving street with a cul-de-sac at the end that somewhat resembled that "four hour" problem the nice people who make the famous blue pill have to mention in their advertisements.
Had one small subdivision that the owner chose NONAME.
He was just fed up with the county and said it was "Non-a-me".
In reality it was "No Name".
When I was designing subdivisions, if i had the opportunity to pick the names of the street, I always tried using my last name "GLANKLER" STREET but nobody would accept it. :-/
Can't blame a guy for trying!!
A firm I used to work for did a lot of residential subdivisions. Because the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain and later the Battle of Atlanta were fought near here a developer wanted to use historical names for the streets. Hooker Lane (for General Joseph Hooker) didn't make it through though.
Andy
It's alright to be Itty Bitty!
The developer was well known for cheap building and slum apartments. He wanted to use his last name for the road name and I responded, "That will drive the prices down at least 10%."
I checked with him three times before filing.
After the approval, he told me he was joking about using his last name for the road name. Perhaps he realized the price would drop or perhaps his wife nagged him enough because we changed the road name to his wife's name.
We had a landowner get so fed up with the red tape and regulatory interference in our county that he named his 3-lot minor subdivision "Migraine Estates." It was approved, platted, and recorded as such.