VALDOSTA — Valdosta City Council approved a moratorium of 180 days on renaming streets inside the city. 

The moratorium will have no effect on the current petition to rename Forrest Street to Barack Obama Boulevard, City Manager Mark Barber said.

Barber said during the council meeting Thursday the city will not accept any new bids for name changes until the city reviews and updates the existing city ordinance that relates to renaming streets. 

He said the current ordinance is nearly 30 years old and needs updating. The 180 days is the maximum number of days, which means the moratorium could be less but no more than 180 days.

“Keep in mind that this does not impede the progress of any current petition we have,” Barber said. “There is just some cleaning up with the current ordinance that needs to happen.”

The council voted 6-1, with Councilman Eric Howard the sole vote against.

Recently, the petition to rename Forrest Street hit a snag when the city announced that only 40 of the 114 signatures were usable.

The People’s Tribunal submitted the petition at a recent City Council meeting, but the city said more signatures are needed to move forward with the renaming.

With 284 parcels on Forrest Street, running from Martin Luther King Jr. Drive to Inner Perimeter Road, 171 signatures are needed before city leaders can consider the request, Barber said.

The Rev. Floyd Rose, tribunal president, said the civil rights group has no plans to stop its mission to rename the street and will move forward with getting the required signatures. 

Thomas Lynn is a government and education reporter for The Valdosta Daily Times. He can be reached at (229)244-3400 ext. 1256