[Added 12-16-2019 by Ord.
No. 37.102.19]
It is hereby found and determined that the creation of an honorary
street naming dedication program enables the City of Albany to commemorate
individuals who have made significant contributions to the community
and humanity. These honorary street names are meant to commemorate
the honoree and do not replace the official street name or require
re-addressing of the street involved.
A.
The Common Council shall evaluate and approve all honorary street
naming dedications pursuant to the following criteria:
(1)
The honoree must have made a demonstrable and significant positive
impact on the community or contributed to the cultural, economic,
educational, intellectual, political or scientific vitality of the
community or have made an extraordinary contribution in the service
of humanity.
(2)
The honoree must be a natural person, and no living individual
shall be the subject of a proposed dedication, except by unanimous
consent of the Common Council.
(3)
Proposals shall not be for names that could reasonably be considered
derogatory, obscene or blasphemous.
(4)
Honorary designations shall be confined to the right-of-way
within the vicinity of the home, organization, or location associated
with the honoree.
(5)
The proposed name may not duplicate or be potentially confused
with the name of an official City street name.
(6)
Each Council member and the Mayor may propose up to two honorary
dedications per calendar year except in the circumstance where the
naming is upon the request of the Mayor, in which case it shall not
be counted as a dedication by the Council member. Dedications by Council
members shall be within their respective wards.
B.
The Common Council shall consider the honorary street naming dedication
at a Council meeting, and the decision to adopt an honorary street
name based on the criteria in this section shall be effectuated through
the adoption of a resolution of the Common Council.
A.
Requests for honorary dedications shall be submitted in writing to
the City Clerk, with an application fee of $50 (except when sponsored
by a Common Council member) in accordance with the following criteria:
(1)
The submission shall provide the name and contact information
of the person or group requesting an honorary street dedication;
(2)
The submission shall state the name of the individual or group
intended to be honored;
(3)
The submission shall be accompanied by a biography of and the
reasons for honoring the individual or group, including the person
or group's relevance to the location being proposed;
(4)
The applicant shall include a map of the location of the proposed
honorary street dedication, including total length of the street to
be affected and bounding streets or other boundaries as necessary.
B.
Upon receipt of a completed application, the Common Council shall
conduct a review for compliance with the requirements set forth in
this article, and shall have 90 days to make a determination on the
application. This review shall include providing the Albany Police
Department Division of Traffic Engineering with a copy of the completed
application, so the Department can evaluate and transmit an impact
report to the Council, to ensure the proposed signage will not be
confusing to the public. Upon expiration of the 90 days, absent action
by the Council, the request is deemed denied.
C.
If a resolution to effectuate the proposed honorary street dedication
is adopted, then the party requesting the dedication shall deposit
funds equal to the cost of the signage, not to exceed $300, with the
City Treasurer's Office, and upon receipt of such payment, the signage
will be created and installed by the Division of Traffic Engineering
in accordance with this article.
A.
In order to provide for consistency in naming of streets and to promote
safety of the community, all honorary street dedication signs must
conform to the following criteria:
(1)
Honorary street dedication signs must be mounted in a way that
distinguishes them and does not detract from the primary street sign
and therefore may be mounted above or below the primary street sign,
or in any other way that is clearly distinguishable from the primary
street sign.
(2)
Honorary street dedication signs shall have a distinct design,
as determined by the Division of Traffic Engineering, and be in a
contrasting color to distinguish them from primary street name signs.
B.
Only a segment of street between one and four contiguous blocks may
be proposed for honorary street designation, and in the case of walkways,
trails, or bicycle paths, the designation may apply to the entire
length of the way.
C.
Honorary street dedication signs are valid only for a period of 10
years, at which point the signage may be removed by the City unless
the period of placement is extended by the Common Council.
D.
Signs may be removed at any point as deemed necessary by motion of
the Common Council.
