AGENDA #15
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: Council Naming Committee
(Council Members Flicka Bateman, Bill Strom, and Edith Wiggins)
SUBJECT: Naming Committee Policies and Procedures
DATE: September 22, 2003
The purpose of this memorandum is to provide the Council with revised policies and procedures for the Council Naming Committee. Adoption of the attached resolution would establish these procedures, as outlined in Attachment 1, and would include these procedures in the Town Council Procedures Manual.
The Council’s Naming Committee makes recommendations regarding the naming and dedicating of Town facilities and for placing markers or plaques on Town property. Earlier this year and in previous Council sessions, Council members discussed the need to revise the policies and procedures followed by the Naming Committee. On June 13, the Committee, composed of Council Members Bateman, Strom, and Wiggins, met with staff from the Manager’s Office to discuss ways to revise the procedures. The group believed that the existing procedures did not provide a clear direction to the Committee for naming of public facilities.
The attached policies and procedures provide a structure for naming Town facilities. In addition to rewording and editing sentence structure for clarification, we have made the following more substantive changes:
· Included “permanent markers or plaques on Town property” in the provisions for Town facilities (Section D.1).
· Clarified that all naming requests are forwarded to the Naming Committee, and that the role of the Committee is to make recommendations to the Council (Section D.2(b)).
· Explained that the Committee will give a “strong preference to naming a facility for the deceased,” and that “naming a facility for a living person will only be considered under extraordinary circumstances” (Section D.3(c)).
· Provided a clearer distinction between “naming” and “dedicating.” The Committee “can distinguish between naming a facility for someone and dedicating a facility or portion of a facility in someone’s honor.” This would allow the installation of a plaque without renaming the entire facility (Section D.3(d)).
We have included the new policy as Attachment 1, and included deleted sections in strikethrough and added sections in bold.
We recommend adoption of the attached resolution, which would establish the new policies and procedures for the Naming Committee, and would include these revisions in the Town Council Procedures Manual.
1. Revised Council Naming Committee Policies for Naming Public Facilities (p. 4).
A RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR THE TOWN COUNCIL NAMING COMMITTEE REGARDING THE NAMING OF PUBLIC FACILITIES (2003-09-22/R-9)
WHEREAS, the Council has discussed the need to revise the policies and procedures observed by the Naming Committee with regard to naming of public facilities; and
WHEREAS, the Naming Committee has worked to clarify several provisions within its policies and procedures to provide greater direction for the Committee;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill hereby establishes the policies and procedures for the Council’s Naming Committee as outlined in the Council Memorandum and Attachment 1 dated September 22, 2003;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT these policies and procedures be included in the Town Council Procedures Manual.
This the 22nd day of September, 2003.
(Revised Policies and Procedures)
D. Naming
Public Facilities (Council Adopted Policies and Procedures).
1. Establishing a Standing Committee on Naming Facilities.
The Council
adopted the following policy to be used for the naming of all public facilities.
The Council
will appoint a standing Naming Committee to make recommendations to the
Council for naming or dedicating Town facilities, and for placing
any permanent markers or plaques on Town property. The Committee will
include two or more Council Members.
2. General Procedures for Receiving and Considering Proposals to Name or Rename Town Facilities.
The following process will apply to naming and renaming Town facilities such as buildings, parks, greenways, bikeways, public plaza areas, nature trails, etc. and to arterial and collector streets as defined in the street classifications in the Chapel Hill Design Manual.
Separate
procedures as authorized in Section III below apply to naming and
renaming of residential streets (excluding collector and arterial
streets) as classified in the Town’s Design Manual.
(a) Requests to name Town facilities will be considered in the following ways:
(1) Written or oral Citizens may formally petition
from citizens to the Committee or the Council in a regular
business meeting or to consider a suggested name, or may make a suggestion by
letter or informal contact.
(2) Written or oral petition from an
advisory board or commission may make suggestions to the Committee or the
Council.
(3) Written or oral petition from the Mayor or any Council
Member may make suggestions.
(4) Written or oral request from a
donor of a or property or a gift who may request a
specific name recognition as part of offering a gift to the Town.
(b) All requests will be referred to the Naming Committee, which will make recommendations to the Council for a final decision.
(c) The Naming Committee’s will observe the following
process for developing and submitting recommendations to the Council. The
Committee will:
(1) Seek ideas from appropriate Requests for comments
from Town boards and commissions and other interested parties, and
other community organizations or citizens before making preliminary
recommendations.
(2) Inviteing comments on
preliminary recommendations. When the Committee develops preliminary
recommendations for naming facilities, it will distribute news releases to the
media, to relevant community organizations, and otherwise seek comments from
citizens for at least one month. The Committee may publish paid notices of
proposed facility names, and may or may not hold public forums.
(3) Committee’s recommendation to the Council. Submit
recommendations for naming or renaming facilities to the Council for
consideration at a regular business meeting. The Committee may also recommend
deferring or not naming facilities.
3. General Policies for the Naming Committee:
(a) The Committee will not, except in unusual circumstances, recommend names that would duplicate or be similar to names of other facilities, including streets.
(b) The Committee’s recommendations to the Council will include a summary of comments received from Town boards, community organizations, and citizens, as well as copies of written comments.
(c) The Committee should give strong preference to naming a facility for the deceased. Naming a facility for a living person will only be considered under extraordinary circumstances.
(d) The Committee can distinguish between naming a facility for someone and dedicating a facility or portion of a facility in someone’s honor. A dedication means that the facility will bear a plaque or marker stating the dedication to the person; however, the facility will not be known by the name of the person.
4. Consideration by the Council.
In addition to receiving the Naming Committee’s and Town boards’ recommendations, the Council will ordinarily receive brief comments from citizens at regular Council meetings, and may establish time limits in accord with the Council’s customs and procedures.
Written comments from citizens, community organizations and boards and commissions are invited.
The intent of this policy is that the Council would not call a public hearing to receive comments except in unusual circumstances in which a large number of citizens desire to address the Council.
After a decision by the Council to name or rename a facility, the Manager shall be responsible for implementation in accord with the Council’s guidance.
5. Policies for Naming and Renaming Residential Streets.
(a) New streets. In new developments, residential streets shall be named under current procedures normally involving developers’ submittal of names for approval by the Manager, or, if applicable, in accord with conditions of a development permit. Unless otherwise directed by the Council, the Manager is authorized to name entrance streets or drives to Town facilities, if appropriate, as part of the development process.
(b) Existing streets. To rename an existing publicly maintained residential street, a group of citizens may request the Town Manager to approve its renaming. Names shall not duplicate or be similar to names of existing streets or facilities. The Manager is hereby authorized to establish administrative procedures to carry out this policy.
Any determination or decision by the Manager may be appealed to the Town Council by a resident or owner of property abutting a street proposed to be renamed.