KAILUA — Nine names have made the final list of candidates for the renaming of Kapa'a Quarry Road and a mauka spur road into the valley, but three of the names are ineligible under city's rules for naming streets.

The names reflect the natural environment of the area and are all Hawaiian, as required by city law. But three of them are already in use and under the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu cannot be used again.

The committee responsible for choosing the list of finalists included the names because of the strong connections they have to the area, said Jim Wood, committee member.

"It's not forbidden (to use the names)," Wood said. "They just require special action on the part of the City Council."

The committee is polling the public to see which names are most popular. The city administration will make the final decision on renaming the roads.

The ineligible names were included on the list because during the nomination process, so many people expressed a clear preference for them, he said. The three ineligible names are Kawai Nui Drive, Ulumawao Drive and Kapa'a Road.

"We felt to leave them out would be to immediately squelch public opinion, which didn't seem like an appropriate way to start a balloting process that consults the people," Wood said.

More than 50 different names were submitted to the committee, and some were eliminated because they contained words such as "marsh," "valley" or "vista," which are not allowed by city rules. The committee selected only names that reflect the historic, cultural, scenic and topographical features of the area, Wood said.

The desire to change the roads' names was a business decision, said John King, who owns property along the roads and about 80 percent of the roads.

There also was a desire by the organizations that are working to restore and maintain the marsh to remove the stigma associated with the road because it once led to a city landfill and had been a dumping ground for household trash, construction debris and abandoned automobiles.

King was going to request a name change because his business address is on Kalaniana'ole Highway, which is about two miles from his businesses off Kapa'a Quarry Road. He owns All Pool & Spa.

"I would just like to have a legal address for all the businesses here, where people can actually find us," King said. "I'm developing this area and more and more tenants are complaining about the address on Kalaniana'ole Highway when that's (commonly known as) the Pali Highway, so it's difficult to find."

King, who was a member of the committee, said he prefers Kawai Nui Drive for the main road and Kapa'a Road for the spur, but he will abide by whatever the public votes for. Voting ends Oct. 30.

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.