Board of Public Works & Safety confronted on VanVactor Drive name change, asked to change it back

Friday, April 18, 2025 at 3:00 AM

By Kathy Bottorff

A couple of weeks ago, the Plymouth Board of Public Works and Safety approved a street name change from VanVactor Drive to Jolene Drive in the city’s industrial park at the request of Dan Sharp. The name change was requested by Sharp because he invested over $225,000 to construct the roadway in 2024. The road was planned but never put in.

At Monday’s Board of Public Works and Safety meeting, Dave Miller, representing the VanVactor family, told members the VanVactors had created the Planned Unit Development almost 25 years ago and laid out all the roads, did all the survey work, installed the utilities, and dedicated land for the roadway. He said VanVactor Drive was named so in honor of his father-in-law, Harold VanVactor, but also for Harold’s father, Russell, and his grandfather, David.

Miller said they sold two lots to Dan Sharp and Carl Stockberger months ago, but in the purchase agreement, there were no naming rights.

Miller apologized for not attending the city meeting when the request was presented to change the name, but he had not been contacted. He asked the Board of Public Works to rescind the resolution and legally change the name back to VanVactor Drive.

Dan Sharp attended the meeting and told the board he had collaborated with the city on the development of the road. He explained that the construction of a warehouse altered the plat, and the road he built and dedicated to the city opens up two additional buildable lots. Sharp said he did what was asked by city department heads to help spur activity in the area.

Sharp said he did walk-throughs with the city to look at drainage, curb extensions, and the new intersection of VanVactor Drive with Jolene Drive.

Mayor Listenberger asked if there was a compromise that the city could name another street for Sharp’s family member, Jolene. He said he didn’t have personal equity in any other property in the city.

City Planner, Ty Adley, gave a point of clarification, noting that the design of VanVactor Drive had changed from a curve to an intersection, so a north-south street can’t have the same name as an east-west street. His suggestion was to keep the portion of VanVactor Drive that still exists as an east-west road and rename the other portion to VanVactor lane, avenue, or street.

While a motion was made to change the street name back to VanVactor Drive, the motion was tabled to allow members of the Board of Public Works and Safety to review the issue in further detail.