ENCINITAS -- In a showing of friendship and reciprocity, Encinitas is considering paying tribute to its sister city by changing the name of B Street to Amakusa Way, officials said Monday.

Amakusa, formerly known as Hondo, Japan, has been Encinitas' sister city since 1988.

During a local delegation's visit to the Japanese town in June, officials in Amakusa said they intended to name a street after Encinitas, said Chris Hazeltine, director of parks and recreation.

Now, Encinitas' Sister City Commission is proposing a similar idea with B Street, which runs for four blocks immediately west of Encinitas Boulevard, from Coast Highway 101 to Moonlight Beach.

"This symbolic gesture will help strengthen the bond between the two cities," engineering technician Debra Geishart wrote in a notice to residents living within 300 feet of B Street.

The City Council will consider the name change proposal at its Sept. 13 meeting.

All this comes in anticipation of a late-September visit by six dignitaries from Japan, including Amakusa's Mayor Yasuda, Hazeltine said.

The visitors are scheduled to celebrate Encinitas' 20 years as a city during an Oct. 1 festival at Cottonwood Creek Park. The event will include a symbolic unveiling of an Amakusa Way street sign, Hazeltine said.

Beyond a symbolic reason for choosing B Street, there is a practical one: the road has no residential addresses, so no property owners would be inconvenienced.

Changing a street's name involves notifying water districts, law enforcement and other government authorities, said Greg Shields, city engineer.

Earlier, the city changed the name of a segment of Calle Barcelona to Garden View Road and a portion of Quail Gardens Drive to Quail Gardens Lane.

Although changing street names can be controversial, no one has written to the city either in support or opposition to the pending name change, said Masih Maher of the engineering department.

Replacing signs that say "B Street" on the Coast Highway and cross streets will cost about $2,500, he said.

Some City Council members contacted Monday said the proposal to change B Street's name came as news to them.

Councilman James Bond, who was part of the local delegation to Japan in June, said he had seen no information about changing the name of a city street.

Nor had Councilwoman Maggie Houlihan, who did not attend the most recent sister-city trip to Japan. Houlihan said perhaps a park, and not just a street, should be named after Amakusa.

"What I would like to have is a broader discussion and decide if what we'd like to do is think of more than a street name," she said.

Contact staff writer Adam Kaye at (760) 943-2312 or akaye@nctimes.com. To comment, vgo to isit nctimes.com.

Totally confused by this

South of B Street, Cottonwood Creek gurgles westward before ducking into pipes and emptying into the ocean. Second, Third and Fourth streets intersect with B Street.

At Third Street, a filtration device housed in a shipping container kills bacteria in the creek by zapping it with ultra-violet rays. At the same intersection, crews are in the midst of a $3.7 million replacement of the Moonlight Beach Pump Station.

The project won't be finished by the time the visitors arrive, but the Japanese officials would enjoy seeing it as an example of a local public works project, Hazeltine said.