The purpose of this chapter is to establish criteria for naming
Village of Ardsley parks, fields, buildings or other facilities after,
or otherwise recognizing or memorializing, individuals and organizations.
Requests or proposals for naming a park, field, building or other facility shall be submitted to the Village Manager or the Village Clerk in writing. The request or proposal should set forth the proposed name and a statement describing how the request meets each of the criteria set forth in §§ 136-3 and 136-4.
The Village Manager or Village Clerk may submit a conforming request
to the Ardsley Parks and Recreation Advisory Board for a recommendation
regarding facilities under their auspices. The Ardsley Parks and Recreation
Commission will consider any such request at a public meeting, and
make a recommendation to accept or reject the request to the Village
Board, which has the ultimate authority for naming Village parks,
fields, buildings and recreation facilities. If a request is not Parks
and Recreation related, the request shall be submitted directly to
the Village Board for review.
Inherent in the naming process is the intent of permanent recognition.
Therefore, the process shall be careful and deliberate and, as much
as possible, involve the evaluation criteria listed below.
No park may be named to memorialize a living person. A twelve-month
waiting period must occur before a deceased person may be considered
for recognition.
A park, field, building or other facility may be named to honor an
organization or a deceased person, but only to recognize extraordinary
contribution or service to the Village of Ardsley park system or to
the community. By way of example, a person or organization may qualify
for such recognition where such person or organization:
Made extraordinary contributions to the enhancement of the quality
of life in the community, or other outstanding accomplishments by
an individual for the good of the community (length of service to
the community should be considered in connection with this criteria);
In extraordinary cases, by the naming of a field or recreation facility. All designations under this paragraph are subject to the same naming criteria in set forth § 136-4B.
The renaming of parks, fields, building and other facilities is strongly
discouraged. It is recommended that efforts to change a name be subject
to the most critical examination so as not to diminish the original
justification for the name or discount the value of the prior contributors.
Parks, fields, building and other facilities named after individuals
should not be changed unless it is found that the individual's
personal character is or was such that the continued use of their
name for a park, field, building or facility would not be in the best
interest of the community. Parks named by deed restriction cannot
be considered for renaming.
Facilities within parks, i.e. playgrounds, picnic shelters, etc. can be named separately from the parks in which they are located, subject to the criteria in § 136-4A, B and C of this policy.