Street Names for Public Roads Procedure

Purpose statement

This procedure outlines the parties involved and their responsibilities for the development of street names for public highways (roads) which are under the jurisdiction of the Town of Oakville (town).

Scope

This procedure applies to all street names including heritage street names for public roads within the town.

Procedure


Standard Street Naming

  1. The naming of new streets in Oakville shall be agreed upon between the town and the applicant of new development lands, who shall be requested to provide a list of potential street names, in accordance with the criteria outlined below:
    1. All street names shall be one word except for veteran and historical name recognition or as approved by the Director, Transportation and Engineering Department, or designate.
    2. Proposed street names should be short in length, easy to spell, and easy to pronounce.
    3. Names which follow a theme within a new plan of subdivision are encouraged. Thematic examples could be key urban and community design features.
    4. Personal names shall only be permitted to celebrate a past life to reflect significant historical relevance to the area.
    5. Names should be based on only the surname of an individual unless the street name requires the first name or person’s title to avoid duplication within the town/Region of Halton.
    6. Names from the list of Oakville/Trafalgar Township Veterans as supplied by Heritage Planning are encouraged. As some of the Veteran names have common surnames, special consideration has been provided by emergency services to accept both the individual’s given name and the surname.
    7. For development applications which involve the development of more than one new street, and where the property does not contain a heritage resource, Heritage Planning staff will advise the applicant that at least one heritage street name must be used in the new development.  See heritage street name selection criteria.

 

  1. Transportation and Engineering department staff will work with the applicant to develop the proposed name list, should assistance be required. Transportation and Engineering staff will review and amend the list as required.
  2. Street names that already exist within the Town of Oakville and Halton Region municipalities shall not be permitted and Transportation and Engineering department staff will revise the list accordingly.
  3. Transportation and Engineering department staff will send the potential list of street names to emergency services for review and comment.  Emergency services will review the list of potential names with the master list of street names for the Region of Halton (City of Burlington, Town of Halton Hills, Town of Milton and the Town of Oakville).  Street names that already exist in Halton Region will not be permitted.  Emergency services will also recommend that names with similar spelling or pronunciation or names that are too lengthy not be used.
  4. The following shall apply to the renaming of streets:
    1. Requests to rename streets may be brought forward for consideration by any member of Council.
    2. Streets may be renamed to recognize the contribution to the community of an individual or a group of individuals or a significant event, subject to meeting the other criteria within the Procedure for Street Naming and approval of Council. Streets shall not be renamed after living individuals
    3. A report outlining the request or reason for renaming an existing street shall be submitted to Council for approval.

Heritage Street Naming

  1. Heritage Planning staff will provide a list of potential heritage street names to Transportation and Engineering staff who will verify that these heritage street names meet the Town’s selection criteria for street naming for each application.
  2. All heritage street names shall comply with the following criteria:
    1. Heritage street names should be developed with consideration for the names, places and events that relate to the Town of Oakville, Halton Region, former Township of Trafalgar, former Village of Bronte and the former County of Halton.  Proposed names must meet one of the following criteria;
      1. The name has direct associations with a theme, event, belief, person, activity, organization or institution that is significant to a community;
      2. The name conveys information that contributes to an understanding of a community or culture;
      3. The name conveys information that contributes to an understanding of the local geography and/or landscape; or
      4. The name is from the Oakville/Trafalgar Township Veterans’ List. As some of the veteran names have common surnames, special consideration has been provided by emergency services to accept both the individual’s given name and the surname.  All new street signs used to commemorate veterans shall be marked with a red poppy to differentiate them from standard street signs.
    2. For development applications which involve the development of more than one new street, and where the property does contain a heritage resource, Heritage Planning staff will advise the applicant that 50% of the new street names shall relate to the heritage resource and this requirement shall be a condition of draft approval for a plan of subdivision.
    3. Heritage Planning staff will develop a list of potential heritage names that are relevant to the property under application.  This list will be based on the Oakville/Trafalgar Township veterans’ List and the North Oakville Settlers’ List which are maintained by Heritage Planning staff.
    4. If the applicant desires, he/she can provide his/her preferred heritage street name selections to Transportation and Engineering staff. 

Commemorative Street Naming

  1. The town may recognize local citizens by introducing a commemorative street name, which will be considered subordinate to the primary street name that currently exists.  A time frame may be established by Council or the Director, Transportation and Engineering Department during which any commemorative street will continue to be in effect.  The town reserves the right to remove any commemorative name at any time, should conditions arise that makes it no longer in the best interest of the town.

Names not permitted

  1. The Town will not allow new street names that:
    1. Are duplicate or too similar to an existing street name within the Halton Region.
    2. Have similar pronunciation sounds such as; Beachtree Crescent and Peachtree Lane, or Morrison Road and Morrison Heights Drive.
    3. Contain apostrophes, hyphens and dashes. The possessive “s” may be used but without the use of the apostrophe.
    4. Could be construed to promote alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, or addictive substances, pornography, weapons or other life-threatening products.
    5. Present demeaning or derogatory portrayals of individuals or groups or contain any message that is likely to cause deep or widespread offence.
    6. Promote religious or political messages that might be deemed prejudicial to other religious or political groups
    7. Recognize a living individual.
    8. Could be construed as advertising a product, commercial enterprise or religious institution.
    9. Contain words that have already been excessively used in the Oakville community.
    10. Have unconventional spellings, and do not accommodate ease of recognition and pronunciation.

Street prefix designation

  1. Street prefixes are words that precede a street name and should be avoided wherever possible.  The prefix ‘Old’ should only be used to rename a separate residual part of an existing roadway. Proposed street names with the prefix ‘Olde’ will not be approved so as to eliminate potential confusion between ‘Old’ and ‘Olde.’ The prefix of ‘St.’ should be written out in full, i.e. Saint.

Street suffix designation

  1. Street type designations are based on length, configuration and roadway function to define the character of a street. The following designations shall be considered.
    1. Alley or Lane - a narrow roadway at the rear of a single row or between a double row of buildings which is generally used for rear access
    2. Avenue, Boulevard, Drive, Road or Street - a roadway or thoroughfare which is several blocks in length
    3. Circle - a looped roadway that offers a circular pattern
    4. Close, Court, Green, Landing or Place - a roadway with no exit that usually ends with a cul-de-sac
    5. Common - a roadway that is privately owned (a roadway that is not owned by a tier of municipal government, e.g.; a condominium driveway)
    6. Crescent - a roadway which forms a connection to the same road at two or more points
    7. Gardens - a roadway which is minor or short in length
    8. Gate - a roadway that is typically short in length which offers a connection between a collector/arterial and a local roadway in a subdivision
    9. Heights, Hill or Terrace - a local roadway which offers a connection to an elevated area of a new development or subdivision
    10. Hollow - a local roadway which offers a connection to a valley or area of lower elevation within a new development or subdivision
    11. Parkway - a roadway or thoroughfare which is several blocks in length, which may have a planted median
    12. Passage, Path, Trail or Way - a roadway which is winding or curved
    13. Square - a roadway that offers a square pattern
  2. The final decision on street naming shall rest with the Director, Transportation and Engineering Department, or designate.

Definitions

Heritage resource: a ‘heritage resource” is a building, building remnant, structure, landscape or other feature which has heritage status by virtue of being designated under the Ontario Heritage Act or listed on the Oakville Register of Properties of Cultural Heritage Value or Interest.

Emergency services: consists of the Oakville Fire Department, the Halton Region Police Services and Halton Region Emergency Medical Services.

Public roads: for the purpose of this procedure means any municipal roadway

Responsibilities

Transportation and Engineering Department - is responsible for ensuring compliance with this procedure. Staff will review the potential street names and background information as supplied by the applicant for compliance with the street name selection criteria.  

Names that do not meet the selection criteria will be removed from the list. Staff will review the potential street names, including heritage street names for duplication within the existing Oakville Street Name List and revise the list as required.  The final decision of street naming will rest with the Director of Transportation and Engineering.

Planning Services Department, Heritage Planning - The role of Heritage Planning staff is to maintain both the North Oakville Settlers’ List and the Oakville/Trafalgar Township Veterans’ List and develop potential heritage street names from these lists for each application. Heritage Planning staff is responsible for compliance with the heritage street naming section of this procedure.

Applicant’s responsibilities - applicants will work cooperatively with town staff to develop quality street names that provide a positive image for the Oakville community through compliance with the appropriate policy and street naming procedure.

Applicants will supply town staff with an explanation or background information for the proposed street, outlining which of the selection criteria have been met.

References

Municipal Act
Planning Services - Heritage Planning Street Naming Guidelines
Transportation and Engineering - Street Naming Guidelines

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