Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- Draper City Council considers renaming Stampede Drive to Bailey Quinn Lane.
- The change honors 12-year-old Bailey Mallard, who died in June.
- Community support could help play a role in the council's decision pending Salt Lake County approval.
DRAPER — Elected officials in Draper are considering changing the name of one of its city streets. The renaming, if approved, would honor a local girl who died over the summer.
On Tuesday, the Draper City Council voted in favor of authorizing a petition to change the name of Stampede Drive to Bailey Quinn Lane — after Bailey Mallard, who died on June 27, at the age of 12.
Bailey's obituary doesn't indicate how she died, but a GoFundMe* campaign started in her honor states that she "tragically passed away following a mountain biking incident."
The matter of renaming a street was brought before the City Council after citizens in the Draper neighborhood, where she lived, approached the city about it, according to Spencer Dushane, Draper's assistant city attorney.
"What we have here is a whole neighborhood who came together to offer more than kind word, (but) to offer a kind deed to a family that's grieving the loss of their daughter," he said before the council.
Mike Barker, Draper city manager, said someone in the neighborhood contacted Salt Lake County to see if the name is available. It was.
Barker said the City Council was moved by the number of people from Bailey's community who are pushing for the name change.
"What struck me, (and) I think struck the council, is the level of support in that neighborhood," he told KSL.com on Friday. "I think Bailey's story touched everybody in Draper in that she was engaged in an activity that Draper is I guess famous for, in terms of mountain biking, with all of the open space and trails that we have."
According to her obituary, Bailey was a creative and adventurous child who would have entered seventh grade at Draper Park Middle School this fall.
Just months before she died, Bailey joined the Draper Park Mountain Bike Team.
Joshua Bunting, the team's head coach, said that in the short time she was with the team, Bailey radiated enthusiasm, positive energy and always had a smile on her face.
"It's maybe a little cliché, but, you know, she was a pretty bright light, if you will," he said. "She was just an all-around great kid, and (to say) it was devastating would be an understatement."
Bunting said he heard about the efforts to change the street name in honor of Bailey, but he's not involved.
Salt Lake County code allows cities to pursue a street name change if they choose to do so. However, it requires a process and coordination from the county, which ensures any street name changes don't pose a risk to public safety and emergency services or create confusion among residents.
"We're just working through that ordinance, and without going into some of the quirks of the ordinance, we've determined the city needed to be the petitioner to get the ball rolling," Barker told KSL.com.
Salt Lake County ordinance also requires 75% of residents on the street to sign a petition for a name change. But Dushane said in this case, since technically no residents live on Stampede Drive, as the street only leads into a neighborhood, the City Council could make a case that renaming is in the public interest.
"If you don't have 75% of the residents who signed the petition, but the City Council wants to change it anyway, they can change it; and then it goes to the county for a name approval," he explained.
A recent similar measure was passed in late 2023, when the West Jordan City Council and Salt Lake County approved a street name change to honor Eli Mitchell, a 13-year-old boy who was hit and killed in a crosswalk by a drunk driver in April 2022.
Dushane also noted that Draper previously renamed a street to Lexie Sage Lane in memory of resident Lexie Fenton, who was killed along with another teen in a rollover crash in 2016.
While he didn't go into specifics on what led to the previous street name change, Dushane noted the similarities in communities coming together to honor lives lost too soon.
"It's a great neighborhood, doing great things for people in their neighborhood who they love," he said.
The City Council unanimously voted in favor of the resolution to start the petition to change Stampede Drive to Bailey Quinn Lane.
Pending approval from Salt Lake County, the matter will go back to the City Council, which will either approve or deny the name change.
Dushane did not specify during the meeting an exact timeline of the next steps in the process.
*KSL.com does not assure that the money deposited into the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisers and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
