In quick vote, Oviedo names new connector road after bank

When it comes to roads, what’s in a name? Oviedo’s City Council recently worked through how to name its Geneva Drive connector road, which will reach west from Geneva Drive, cross behind the Post Office plaza and connect with State Road 434 right across the street from The Town House restaurant, helping form the center of a renovated “Old Downtown” district in the area. 

Council members had two conundrums, which were discussed at an Oct. 27 workshop meeting. One: how to deal with the 271 name suggestions they received from residents, hoping to name the new small off-shoot, and how to rule out some names. Two: How to choose a winner.  

Many of the responses the city received were already out of the running, Oviedo Assistant City Manager Patrick Kelly said, before votes were tallied. 

County rules rule out famous Oviedo residents

Seminole County’s street naming guide makes sure street names are “easily pronounced by a child,” Kelly said. 

“Dispatchers and first responders need to be able to clearly and quickly understand where they are,” he added. “We need to balance public safety with community identity.” 

Seminole County spokesperson Andy Wontour verified the issue with the county code that prevents names that are similar enough to other names that it might cause confusion.

“This is a public safety issue as 9-1-1 can accidentally deploy fire and law enforcement to the wrong location if the names are too similar,” she said.

That caused an issue with the top-voted response: Caitlin Downing, the five-year-old Oviedo cheerleader who in 2012 inspired more than 470 well-wishers to raise $35,000 for brain tumor research in the Miles for Hope walk, in the hope that she could be the first ever child cured of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma. The ribbon magnets with the words “Cheering for Caitlin” adorned hundreds of cars nationwide, enough that the family compiled photos of cars from all 50 states with her ribbon on them. She lost her battle with the incurable, rare cancer three months after entering kindergarten. 

“She was by [far] the most suggested name,” Kelly said. 

There’s already a Caitlin Point in Longwood, Downing Lane in Altamonte Springs and a Downing Street in Sanford, ruling her name out for Oviedo, Kelly said.   

A long list

That rule prevented more than half of the top vote-getting names from being used. 

Oviedo may never have a street named Rooster; Sanford already has a Rooster Court. Nor for Hagerty High School graduate and Major League Baseball All-Star outfielder Riley Greene, nor longtime Oviedo youth sports league volunteer, mentor and Oviedo Citizens In Action president Lump Boston, nor Fred the Rooster, arguably the most famous rooster in Oviedo.  

Notably allowed: Chicken. 

“Chicken is free and clear,” Kelly said. “No one has used Chicken. It is wide open.” 

Chicken was number four on the list.  

That left one name – down the list at number five – that Oviedans may remember immediately: Alwyn Cashe, the Oviedo native and Medal of Honor recipient who died after saving six of his fellow soldiers from a fire after an explosion hit their vehicle during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005.

In less than two minutes the choice was made. 

“I’m fine with Alwyn Cashe or Citizens,” Councilman Jeff Boddiford said, the latter referencing Citizens Bank of Florida, which began as Citizens Bank of Oviedo in 1946 on a former celery farm, when much of Oviedo was still powered by agriculture. The bank, which had assets of $509 million when it became part of Fairwinds Credit Union in 2021, was eighth in voting, and was also supported by Mayor Megan Sladek. 

“I was kind of partial to Alwyn Cashe,” Deputy Mayor Natalie Teuchert said. “But the post office was kind of an ode to the Cashe family, and if that’s changing locations in the future [the street name] kind of cements this in the area.” 

“If it sounds like you guys want to go with Citizens I don’t have any issue with that necessarily,” Councilman Alan Ott said. 

The suffix would most likely be a Lane or a Way because it’s an east-west street, Oviedo City Manager Bryan Cobb said. 

“Citizens it is,” Kelly said, though no formal vote was taken on the issue. 

Kelly said the final choice and presentation for a resolution for the road will be at an upcoming City Council meeting though Oviedo spokeswoman Lisa McDonald said that date has not yet been decided. McDonald said the road is expected to be completed in March of 2026.