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A tale of two streets
Confusion persists despite name change
Wrong Street 2 es
Sheila Elliott holds correspondence between her and the developer of her subdivision concerning the street name change. - photo by Emily Saunders
A drive through just about any new Forsyth County neighborhood will show that it’s common for streets to have similar names.

But for Sheila Elliott, living on a road by any other name than Flagstone Mill Cove would be sweet.

She said the similarity between her address and that of another resident has brought nothing but headache, even after the name of her street was changed.

Elliott lives in the only house on Flagstone Mill Cove in the Parkstone subdivision off Hwy. 369 in north Forsyth.

Since her family moved in more than a year ago, Elliott said, mail, packages and repairmen have repeatedly gone to a home with the same house number on Flagstone Court on the opposite side of the neighborhood.

Her neighbor, she said, has the same problem.

In fact, a Forsyth County Sheriff’s deputy once mistakingly went to Elliott’s neighbor’s house instead of Elliott’s.

“This is getting incredibly, incredibly nerve-racking,” Elliott said. “It’s insane.”

Elliott explained that when they moved there in March 2008, the street was called Flagstone Cove.

The developer, Sharp Residential, agreed to have the name changed last summer after she and her neighbor complained about the confusion.

The county informed 911 of the change and authorities alerted about the confusion.

But the change hasn’t worked, Elliott said, and she wants Sharp to change the name again.

The company has agreed to work with the county to do so, provided the Elliotts sign a waiver relieving Sharp of any responsibility were an emergency service provider to go to the wrong house.

Elliott has refused to sign, saying she didn’t have to sign a waiver when she moved in or when the street was renamed the first time.

“We went back to them and said you’re under more of an issue of liability now if you leave the street names the way they are because the way they are now, our street name doesn’t exist anywhere,” Elliott said.

Her address does not come up on a Google maps search and she said directions on Global Positioning Systems lead to her neighbor’s house.

Tom Sharp said his company was advised to ask for the waiver because the county has recommended not changing the name a second time, in an effort to avoid further confusion.

Adding to the confusion is the issue of who is actually responsible for making the name change.

“When you develop a subdivision, there’s a bond,” Sharp said. “We’ve completed the bond work and got a release so we really don’t have control anymore, but we’re always ready to help.”

But Forsyth County spokeswoman Jodi Gardner and Deborah Storey, administrative specialist for the county engineering department, said the change still is up to Sharp.

“It’s not something that the county would initiate at this time,” Gardner said. “Certainly, if there’s a public safety issue regarding a street name, that’s when the county would initiate such.”

Storey explained that eventually the developer will turn the property over to the homeowners’ association. Until then, however, Sharp is responsible for the street name.

“If Sharp Residential and Mrs. Elliott continue to pursue this and they come to some agreement, then if we are asked by the developer to affect a change then we will go through that process,” Storey said.

She said Forsyth County emergency services providers have agreed the name Flagstone Mill Cove doesn’t pose any more of a problem for responders than any other street name in the county.

As far as Elliott’s mail is concerned, Storey said she has spoken with the post office about the issue.

Elliott said she has also spoken with her mail carrier, who agreed to be careful when making deliveries. Still, the problem exists.

“We think it would be better if you change it to something that doesn’t even resemble Flagstone,” Elliott said. “It would be so much easier to find.”

E-mail Julie Arrington at juliearington@forsythnews.com.