The purpose of this article is to establish a uniform procedure
for the official naming of parks, trails, recreation areas, and recreational
facilities to ensure that these public amenities are easily identified
and located and given names that are consistent with the values and
character of the area, neighborhood, or community served.
It is the policy of the Borough of East Rutherford to name newly
acquired or developed or unnamed public parks, recreation areas, trails,
and recreational facilities based upon the procedures set forth in
this article. A facility within a park (e.g., playground, picnic shelter,
ball field, etc.) can be named separately from the park subject to
the same criteria.
It is the policy of the Borough to choose names for public parks
and recreation facilities based upon the site's relationship to the
following criteria:
A. Neighborhood, geographic, or common usage identification.
B. A historical figure, place, event or other instance of historical
or cultural significance.
C. Natural or geological features.
D. An individual who has been deceased for at least two years who:
(1) Has made a significant land and/or monetary contribution (51% or
more) to the particular park or recreational facility at issue;
(2) Has had a contribution made "in memoriam" to the park representing
51% or more of the land or facility development costs and the name
has been stipulated as a condition of the donation;
(3) Has performed extraordinary or outstanding public service for the
good of the community in regards to parks, trails, recreational facilities
and/or open space;
(4) Was an outstanding community leader who made significant civic contributions
to the Borough; or
(5) Was an outstanding regional or statewide leader who contributed significantly
to the promotion of parks and recreation and/or land conservation.
E. Parks, trails, and recreational facilities shall not ordinarily be
named for living persons, except in the event that an individual,
family, or organization has donated the land for a new park, donated
more than 60% of the cost of developing the park or facility, or has
established a maintenance endowment of 60% or more of the projected
maintenance cost for 20 years, and such donation is made with the
stipulation that the name is a condition of the land or monetary donation.
F. Names that duplicate or that are very similar to existing parks,
recreational facilities, trails, or other facilities in the Borough
system shall not be considered in order to avoid confusion.
A name selected for a park or recreation facility should be
bestowed with the intention that it will be permanent, and changes
should be strongly resisted. Name changes shall be subject to the
procedures set forth in this article.
Following selection of a name by the Borough Council, the Public
Works Department will identify the specific park or facility with
appropriate signage specifying the name. The signage will be designed
according to the existing parks and recreation sign policy for plaques,
markers, and memorials.
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or word
of this article is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional,
such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions
of this article. The Council hereby declares that it would have passed
this article and each section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase,
and words thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections,
subsections, sentences, clauses, phrases or words have been declared
invalid or unconstitutional, and if for any reason this article should
be declared invalid or unconstitutional, then the remaining article
provisions will be in full force and effect.