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R-22-14CITY OF FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA STREET NAMING AND RENAMING POLICY I. PURPOSE This policy establishes a process for the naming of any new street and the renaming of any existing street within the City municipal boundaries. For the purpose of this policy, and for ease of reference, the term “street” shall mean a street, alley, driveway, avenue, road, expressway or similar right-of-way over which the City has primary or concurrent naming authority under applicable law, whether or not such street is currently named as of the effective date of this policy. II. AUTHORITY City Code Section 82-38 "Names of streets within the City, as shown on the GIS files are hereby declared the official names of such streets, unless officially changed by subsequent resolution of the city council.” III. NAMING OF A NEW STREET CREATED AS PART OF A LAND SUBDIVISION OR DEVELOPMENT/REDEVELOPMENT APPLICATION. All proposed names for any public and/or private street(s) created as part of a land subdivision or in connection with a development or redevelopment project shall be considered and approved administratively by the City Manager or designee as part of the land subdivision or development/redevelopment application review and approval process. Prior to final approval of all preliminary subdivision plats, subdivision plats, and site plans, applicants/developers/property owners or their duly authorized agents shall submit any new street name requests to the City Manager or designee who shall ensure that any proposed street name(s) are in substantial conformance with Section VI STREET NAME REQUIREMENTS. Upon such certification by the City Manager or designee, the proposed street name(s) shall be applicable for all purposes. IV. REQUESTING A CHANGE TO THE NAME OF ANY EXISTING STREET A. City Council initiated request. The City Council may, by motion duly approved at a regular meeting of the City Council, initiate a street renaming request. Such motion shall include, with reasonable specificity, the reason(s) for such request. Upon approval of the required motion, City staff shall process the request in accordance with the below requirements for publicly initiated requests, other than the petition requirements, for public streets or private streets (as applicable). The City Manager or designee shall cause a public hearing to be scheduled to consider the requested name change, at such time as the City Manager or designee shall determine. Evaluation and consideration of the request, including the selection of any new name(s), shall be in conformance with the requirements of Section V and VI of this policy. B. Publicly initiated request. 1. Any resident(s), business owner(s), or other common ownership group (i.e. HOA, civic association, condominium association) within the City may submit a petition for a street name change to the City Manager or designee. Such petition shall be in a form provided by the City Manager or designee. Contact info – Petition Link. No petition may be submitted for any street name change that has been considered by the City Council within the two (2) years immediately preceding the date of the filed, completed petition. 2. Prior to submission, the petition shall be circulated, at a minimum, to every property immediately abutting said street. a. For public and private streets: each owner of record (as shown in the City’s assessment records) for real property that abuts the subject street shall be notified of the request for street name change and provided with a copy of the petition. The petition shall be initiated by owners of record (as shown in the City’s assessment records) of a minimum of 66% of the listed parcels or lots of record (whether improved or not improved) abutting the street under consideration, and verified signatures of such owner(s) of record shall be required on the petition. Determination of the satisfaction of this condition shall be made by the City Attorney. b. For private streets with a single abutting property: the request shall be initiated by the owner of record (as shown in the City’s assessment records) of such property, and a verified signature of such owner(s) of record shall be required on the petition. Determination of the satisfaction of this condition shall be made by the City Attorney. c. Only one owner of record of applicable properties may affix their signatures to any petition under this section. Non owner residents (i.e. tenants) and other interested parties shall have the opportunity to be heard through the public hearing process contemplated by this policy. 3. To be considered, any petition submitted to the City hereunder shall include: a. A location map showing the street proposed for renaming (and affected address ranges, if not the entirety of the street). b. Detailed justification for the requested street name change. c. The requisite number of signatures of owners, as applicable, with printed names and addresses next to the signatures. All portions of the application package must be completed and submitted together to begin the review process. 4. Upon receipt of a completed petition package meeting all of the requirements of this Section IV, the City Manager or designee shall cause a public hearing to be scheduled for the consideration to change the street name, at such time as shall be determined by the City Manager or designee. Evaluation and consideration of the request, including the selection of any new name(s), shall be in conformance with the requirements of Section V and VI of this policy. 5. Determination of the sufficiency and completeness of any petition submitted under this policy shall be in the sole discretion of the City Manager or designee, and such determination shall be final and unappealable. V. PROCESS FOR CITY COUNCIL CONSIDERATION OF CHANGE OF STREET NAME; SELECTION PROCESS FOR REPLACEMENT STREET NAME A. Upon the City Manager or designee certifying that a petition has been duly and validly submitted pursuant to this policy that meets all of the requirements thereof (except in the case of a Council-initiated name change request which shall have no such requirement), and prior to the date of the public hearing scheduled pursuant to Subsection, the public will be afforded a comment period of a minimum of sixty (60) days in which to provide input as to the proposed name change(s). B. Conduct of required public hearing: 1. Staff shall provide a presentation that includes the details of the name change request, the process undertaken to determine whether a name change is warranted and the justification for any recommendation for the new name of the street, together with a summary of any community feedback collected during the public comment period. 2. Following the staff presentation, the public shall have the opportunity to testify at the public hearing. 3. Following the closing of the public hearing, either at the same meeting or at a subsequent meeting, the City Council may consider of a resolution changing the name. Approval or denial of any such resolution shall be in the sole and absolute discretion of the City Council, and such action by the City Council shall be final and unappealable. 4. If a resolution is approved, there will be an address reassignment for each property on such street, as follows: i. Each affected property owner will be personally and financially responsible for updating their records, both legal and personal (i.e., address names and numbers on house/mailbox or plaque, driver’s licenses, bills, credit cards, stationery, checks, legal documents, home-based business, etc.). ii. The City will cause new street signs to be fabricated and installed. iii. The City Council may, at any time, defer consideration of any name change request submitted pursuant to this policy (including, but not limited to, deferring any public hearing conducted hereunder) for any reason, to a date certain. VI. STREET NAMING REQUIREMENTS (FOR BOTH NEWLY NAMED STREETS AND RENAMING OF STREETS) A. A proposed name may not include numbers, dashes, apostrophes, or other non- alphabetical characters. B. Compass points may not be used in proposed names (North, South, East, West). C. Articles (e.g., the, a, an) may not be used to begin street names. D. A proposed street name derived from community names or geographic features are limited to roads in close proximity to such communities or geographic features. E. When a proposed road is a continuation of or in alignment with an approved road, it must utilize the same road name as the approved road. A new road name will be required if the proposed road is disconnected from the existing road by an offset greater than 60 feet. F. When a proposed road name is spelled in a way that could lead to confusion during emergency response, the agent will suggest an alternative road name. 1. A proposed name will not be considered if it duplicates facilities or generic descriptions of road features (e.g., “Bowling Alley,” “Tennis Court,” “Dirt Road”). 2. A proposed name will not be considered if it is a homophone of an official road name or easily confused with an official road name. G. A proposed name will not be considered if it is a homograph of an official road name or easily confused with an official road name. A proposed street name will not be considered if it is longer than 14 characters. H. A proposed street name will not be considered if it in any way reasonably connotes anything that is profane, obscene, or vulgar; is sexually explicit or graphic; is excretory related; is descriptive of intimate body parts or genitals; is descriptive of illegal activities or substances; condones or encourages violence; or is socially, racially, or ethnically offensive or disparaging, or otherwise violates applicable state and/or federal law. I. A proposed street name will not be considered if is a duplication of, or near duplication in spelling or phonetically similar to, an existing street name in the City or Fairfax County or other area in geographic proximity to the City, as determined by the City Manager or designee. J. A proposed street name will not be considered if it refers to a commercial entity or might otherwise imply a commercial endorsement. K. A proposed street name will not be considered if it is of a person, living or dead, who has condoned or encouraged violence; or has made verified public statements, verbally, in writing, or electronic form, or taken actions, that disparage any person based on their race, religion, gender, ethnicity, marital status, country of origin, or sexual orientation. L. A proposed street name will not be considered if the proposed name is of a person who supported the Confederacy during the American Civil War by any verified actions, including but not limited to, military or political service, or any spoken or written word, or any other documented opposition to the Constitution of the United States. M. If a proposed street name is in honor of a living person and uses such person’s first and last names, prior written consent for the use of such name must be received from the individual. N. If a proposed street name is in honor of a deceased person and uses such person’s first and last names, prior written consent for the use of such name must be received from an authorized representative of the individual's family. O. If a proposed street name is in honor of a deceased historical person and uses such person’s first and last name (i.e., George Washington Drive), the street name must be reviewed by the Director, Office of Historic Resources to ensure the correct person is being referenced, the person’s name is spelled correctly, and that the person’s name is not otherwise prohibited under the provisions of this Section.