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HomeMy WebLinkAbout99-142 - ADMIN Resolution - City Council - 1999/12/06RESOLUTION NO. 99-142 RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE ADOPTION OF A CITY POLICY FOR NAMING PARKS, TRAILS, AND FACILITIES IN THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS PARK WHEREAS, the Parks and Recreation Commission has developed and recommends this policy be adopted by the City Council, and WHEREAS, the policy would serve as a guide for the future naming of parks, trails, and facilities, and WHEREAS, this policy sets up a process for naming when residents or Council members have a suggestion or inquiry, and WHEREAS, the City Council has previously discussed the benefit of having a naming policy NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City of St Louis Park, Minnesota, adopts the attached policy to guide the future naming efforts of parks, trails, and facilities within the City Reviewed for Administration Attest Cify Clerk Adopted b M th City-•ouncil December 6, 1999 Resolution No 99-142 -2- POLICY FOR THE NAMING OF PARKS, TRAILS, AND FACILITIES IN THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS PARK 1. INTRODUCTION: Records of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission show that over the last, approximately twenty-five (25) years the Commission and the City have studied the issue of naming parks, park trails, and park facilities in the City of St Louis Park While non-binding guidelines have been developed over the years to aid in determining a name for a particular park, park trail, or park facility, it appears that there has never been developed a comprehensive policy and set of procedures to be utilized by the Commission and the City when naming parks, park trails, or park facilities It is the recommendation of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission that a formal process for naming parks and park facilities in the City of St Louis Park be adopted by the City Council 2. CRITERIA: Previously, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission and the City had developed a list of guidelines for the naming of parks and park facilities in the City of St Louis Park The Commission recommends that those guidelines continue to be utilized in the naming / renaming of parks and park facilities in the City of St Louis Park (See guidelines dated 12/19/77 and 5/13/91) A review of these guidelines can be divided into the following general categories a Contributor — an individual or organization who has contnbuted financially to the acquisition and/or development of a park, park trail or park facility or who has provided significant service to the community and/or City b Location — a name that fits the neighborhood, street, or other characteristics of the park or park facility locale c Famous American — possible names would be President, Military Leaders, cabinet members, Congresspersons or State Official The Commission recommends that a waiting period of two (2) years after the individual terminates public service be observed before consideration in this category is given d Occasion — a special event in history Example D -Day The Commission recommends that these general categories be included in any information 'that is distributed to all requests and petitions for park facility naming/renaming The Commission recommends that these guidelines be a permanent part of the procedure for naming/renaming park facilities and that they remain in effect until changed at the recommendation of the Commission with the approval of the St Louis Park City Council The Commission recognizes that the final determination of all names for park facilities must be made by the City Council 3. QUALIFYING EVENT: The Commission recommends that in order to eliminate the ad hoc practice of determining whether a park facility should be named or renamed, one of the following events should occur prior to initiating the naming/renaming of a park facility r Resolution No 99-142 -3- a Neighborhood Changes If the neighborhood changes in nature either by composition of the residents or the composition of the surrounding area This consideration should be made either as a result of a petition or by recommendation of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission b Financial If an individual or organization wishes to contribute a significant portion of the cost of developing a park facility or area, the Commission may recommend naming/renaming the park facility after the contributor c Service to the Community A park facility can be named/renamed for an individual living or deceased who has significantly served the community above and beyond the call of duty In order to be considered for such an honor, the person should have the following • Completed at least ten (10) years of service, and, • A waiting period of at least two years from termination of service or two years from the death of the individual, whichever occurs first In a situation where service to the community is demonstrated by an individual or organization donating land adjacent to an existing park facility, this should be considered if the total contribution of the donation is estimated to be at least half of the value of the total existing park facility by fair and equitable professional evaluation d Memorials An individual or organization may wish to recognize a deceased City resident by means of a visible, physical item such as a plaque, living memorial or art object displayed in a public recreation facility The donor must provide for the cost of the object plus installation cost Future maintenance should be considered as part of the installation cost Specific plans for the object must be submitted in advance of approval The object and its location must be approved by the Commission and the City Council If the memorial is to be in the form of a plaque, the size will not exceed 225 square inches Other memorials will also be limited to size and appropriateness of the object and location The installation of these memorials will be supervised by the appropriate City personnel e Original Acquisition of Park Land After a parcel is acquired the guidelines previously utilized by the City of St Louis Park shall be used in naming the new park facility (See guidelines dated 12/19/77 and 5/13/91) The Council is given the authority and discretion to make exceptions to the above-mentioned qualifying events in special situations deemed appropriate by the Council 4. FACILITIES WITHIN THE PARK: Facilities within a park may be named with initiation of the naming of the facility as set forth in Section 3 (a -e) above Examples of such facilities may include, but not be limited to athletic fields, tennis courts, swimming pools, ice arenas, golf courses, wildlife areas and buildings 5. PROCESS FOR NAMING A PARK, TRAIL OR FACILITY ; Resolution No 99-142 -4- Staff and the Commission have discussed the following process 1 Resident or City Council member inquiry leads to staff sending out a form to collect the information criteria or qualifying event 2 Staff reviews the form and sends recommendations to the Parks and Recreation Commission 3 Parks and Recreation Commission reviews the request and makes a recommendation to the City Council 4 City Council reviews and passes a resolution naming or renaming the park, trail or facility 5 Staff puts up a park sign or plaque in the appropriate location 1 41