Article IIA: Honorary Street Namings

§ 323-63.1 Program establishment.

There shall hereby be established an honorary street naming program to commemorate individuals and organizations who have made significant contributions to the community or humanity, by creating an honorary name for official streets or paths without requiring the re-addressing of any street involved.

The following elected officers shall be permitted to be the Application Sponsor of a maximum of two approved honorary street namings per calendar year each:

(1)

Mayor;

(2)

President of the Common Council;

(3)

Treasurer;

(4)

Auditor;

(5)

Common Council members, except that such honorary street namings shall be restricted to routes wholly or partially within their own Wards.

Final Common Council approval of an honorary street naming shall reduce the number of honorary street namings permitted to the Application Sponsor in that calendar year by one, except as required by § 323-63.1D.

No living individual or organization shall be the subject of a proposed dedication, unless:

(1)

Two of an elected officer's honorary street namings are used; or

(2)

Two elected officers spend a single permitted honorary street naming each to sponsor such applications and such cases the application shall be deemed to have two Application Sponsors.

§ 323-63.2 Application procedure.

The City Clerk shall make available in-person and online a public application for honorary street namings which shall provide for the collection of the following information:

(1)

The name and contact information of the person or group submitting the honorary street naming application:

(2)

The name of the individual or organization intended to be honored;

(3)

The name and contact information of a signage recipient who holds significant connection to the honoree and which shall be able to be modified by the applicant before sign removal as provided for by the City Clerk, if available;

(4)

The number of street signs, which shall be no greater than five in number;

(5)

A map identifying the proposed sign locations or a list of proposed cross-streets, illustrating or describing, one contiguous route comprising at most five cross-streets except in the case of walkways, trails, or bicycle paths, one contiguous route for the lesser of either 2,500 feet or the full pathway;

(6)

The honorary street name intended for signage;

(7)

The requested dedication date and alternate dates, at least one of which shall be no earlier than 60 days from the submission date of the application;

(8)

The reason for the dedication, the relevance and significance of the location of the street signs, and a biographical account including at least three separate accomplishments.

Upon receipt of a completed application, the City Clerk shall provide the application to the council members for the Wards within which the honorary street naming has been proposed for their co-signatures and to all city-wide elected officers of the City of Albany.

Within one month of receipt, such council members shall review the application and indicate their approval or disapproval of the segment of the proposed route within their Ward. The first council member to have indicated their approval on an application shall be designated the Application Sponsor. Should an application be disapproved by any such council member or no action is taken within 30 days, the application shall be deemed denied and the City Clerk shall inform the applicant via regular and electronic mail.

City-wide elected officers may submit a written request to assume the role of Application Sponsor to the Application Sponsor, and upon approval by all such council members, sponsorship of the application shall be assumed by the requesting city-wide elected officer.

Upon receipt of an application co-signed by all applicable council members, the City Clerk shall provide a copy to the Division of Traffic Engineering.

The Division of Traffic Engineering shall conduct a review of the application within two weeks of receiving the application and provide the City Clerk a determination as to the acceptability of the honorary name, the feasibility of providing the signage by the requested dedication date, the cost of the signage, and a final recommendation on proceeding with the honorary street naming. The City Clerk shall provide the same to the all city-wide elected officers and all Common Council members.

Upon receipt of a final recommendation from the Division of Traffic Engineering, or upon receipt of a message of necessity from the President of the Common Council, the Common Council shall determine whether the application:

(1)

Was completed as provided for by § 323-63.2A;

(2)

Complies with § 323-63.1D;

(3)

Demonstrates that the honoree 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 made an extraordinary contribution in the service of humanity;

(4)

Designates a name which could not be reasonably considered derogatory, obscene, or blasphemous;

(5)

Designates locations on the right-of-way which are within the vicinity of the home, organization, or location associated with the honoree;

(6)

Designates an honorary street name which does not duplicate or may be potentially confused with the name of an official City street name;

Upon approval of an application, the Application Sponsor shall have their number of allowed honorary street namings reduced pursuant to § 323-63.1C through D.

Upon approval by the Common Council, the Division of Traffic Engineering and the Office of the Treasurer shall effect the collection of the lesser of the cost of the signage or $300. Upon receipt of such payment, such signage shall be created and installed by the Division of Traffic Engineering in accordance with the approved application and this article.

§ 323-63.3 Signage and restrictions.

Honorary street naming signs shall be affixed in a way which distinguishes them and does not detract from the primary street sign, either above or below the primary street sign, or in any other way that shall be clearly distinguishable from the primary street sign.

Honorary street naming signs shall have a distinct design, as determined by the Division of Traffic Engineering, and be in contrasting color to distinguish them from primary street name signs.

Honorary street naming signs shall remain affixed for a period of 10 years, except as otherwise authorized by resolution of the Common Council.

Upon expiration of honorary street naming sign affixation, the City may remove the signage. Upon removal, such signage shall be provided to the signage recipient listed on an application or, if contact is unable to be made, to the applicant.