A Northern California city is moving toward changing the admittedly eyebrow-raising name of a suburban street — even though only four people have voted on the alternatives.
At its meeting Tuesday, the city council of Rancho Cordova will be asked for direction on the renaming of Poopenaut Court.
The memorandum on the issue gives no reason the name should be changed after almost 20 years on the map. Sacramento TV station KOVR found neighborhood residents who proclaimed it “weird” and “silly.”
The dead-end street was named for a place in Yosemite: Poopenaut Valley, near Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. As for that site, geographical guides can only speculate on the name’s origin; one suggests it was the name of an early settler.
For whatever reason, Poopenaut was recorded in 2006 as a street name for the Sunridge Park subdivision, which has a very loose outdoorsy theme. Some street names are from Yosemite, some from the East Coast (Pawcatuck, Katahdin, Montauk) and some generic (Big Meadow, Habitat, Conservancy).
In November and December 2023, the council agenda item says, the city presented neighborhood residents with six alternatives to Poopenaut. It tallied two votes for Towering Rock Court, one each for Mono Pass Court and Artist Point Court, and none for Preston Falls, Peoria Ridge or Lava Bluff.
“Staff is requesting direction from City Council on the preferred name,” the agenda item says. “If so directed by City Council, next steps would include posting the proposed name at the site for a minimum of 10 days, holding a public hearing where Council would consider formally adopting a resolution to change the name, and the installation of the new street name sign.”
No residents live on Poopenaut, a quarter-mile spur whose only structure is an electrical substation.