Guelph-Eramosa has named a new road in the township Fellows Road.
At the Dec. 5 meeting council received correspondence from Charlotte and Graham Mudge asking that the roadway leading to the proposed industrial subdivision on Highway 7 be named after their neighbours Yolanda and Rob Fellows.
The Fellows’ land on Highway 7 south of Rockwood had a standardbred racetrack in addition to a self-storage facility. However, the horse racing sector has taken a downturn in the last few years.
“Eventually it became obvious that the track parcel was surplus to their needs and it is being merged with the Mudge property to form a proposed large industrial subdivision site,” the Mudges wrote in their letter.
“When extended … this road will serve the future industrial lots …”
Originally Mayor Chris White and councillor Corey Woods said they would prefer to take the proposed road name to the heritage committee before passing the resolution.
“I’d like us to just have a quick chat about it. I’m not trying to put it off, I understand where they’re coming from but I don’t want to lose the opportunity if there was some pioneer that we’re really trying to get from before,” White said.
“The letter makes absolute sense, but at least we can come back and say ‘well we just checked with heritage and made sure there wasn’t any burning requirement out there.’”
Typically, 50 per cent of roads in Rockwood subdivisions are named after fallen soldiers, 25% are named after pioneers or by the township and the remaining 25% are named by the developer, township clerk Meaghen Reid explained.
However, because the subdivision in question is outside of Rockwood’s urban boundary there are no naming requirements, Reid said.
When White suggested deferring the naming decision until after the next heritage committee meeting, CAO Ian Roger said a delay could mean setbacks in subdivision development.
“I don’t want to hold them up,” White said. “It would be a nice thing to do but if it matters to move something along, let’s not get in the way.”
Woods added, “It seems reasonable if it’s on the Fellows’ land it be named after the Fellows.”
Council unanimously passed a resolution naming the new road Fellows Road.
