Purpose statement
This procedure establishes formal criteria that shall be used when naming or re-naming public parks and open space areas. This procedure will be used when new lands are acquired by the Corporation of the Town of Oakville (town), or when members of the public request re-naming of a public park or open space area and may also be used when naming individual components of a park or open space area, such as a trail within a larger park area.
Scope
This procedure will only apply to lands being used as public park areas or other similar open space areas forming part of the open space network within the town. This shall be understood to include all lands that are owned, leased or maintained by the town. Staff shall be responsible for naming new parks as they are acquired. Requests to rename existing parkland areas will be submitted to Council for information and, if directed by Council through a request for report, to the Community Services Committee (CSC) and Council for decision.
Procedure
When the town acquires new parkland, or a new open space feature, the following naming criteria shall be considered:
- The name of the street on which the park or open space area is located. In the case of parkland areas having more than one street frontage, the primary street frontage should be considered first (i.e., the street that corresponds to the municipal address of the property).
- Topographical or unique physical characteristics of the park or open space area.
- The name of the community or the neighbourhood in which the park area is located.
- Name of a person (or persons) that have significant historic relevance to the area.
The following shall apply to the re-naming of parks or open space areas:
- Any member of the public may request the naming or re-naming of a park or open space area.
- Parks or open space areas may be named after an individual or a group of individuals or a significant event; these types of requests will be forwarded to the Community Services Committee for consideration.
- Judgment and discretion shall be used when naming new parks to minimize possible confusion with other park areas that may have similar names.
- Consideration for parks within/adjacent to neighbouring municipalities may also be considered when choosing names for new park areas.
- A report outlining the request or reason for renaming an existing park or open space area shall be submitted to Council for information.
Definitions
- Parks – includes all acquired land used for public park purposes. Unless otherwise noted, all designated community parks, neighbourhood parks and parkettes are included.
- Open Space – includes land acquired and/or used for stormwater management purposes, valleylands, waterfront lands, utility corridors or other linear parkland, woodlots and other similar natural areas.
- Open Space Feature – examples of an open space feature may include things like: trails, bridges, playgrounds or small buildings.
Responsibilities
The Director of Parks and Open Space, or his/her designate, shall be responsible for ensuring that these procedures are followed when new parkland is acquired or when requests for re-naming are made. The director shall provide at least one annual update report through CSC to Council, itemizing all new parkland acquired and the corresponding names of the properties.