There's a war brewing over the street Paul Walker died on ... one group of fans are trying to pay tribute to the late actor by re-naming the road after him -- while many residents want no such thing.

A petition with several thousand signatures has been circulating online -- asking the city of Santa Clarita to change the street's name to "Walker Rodas Memorial Parkway."

Here's the problem ... most residents are saying no way ... because Paul did nothing for the community.

Regardless ... the petition has managed to rack up almost 2K signatures ... and counting.

City councilman TimBen Boydston tells TMZ ... the street can only be renamed with support of the community ... so it seems like a pipe dream.