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objectid
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novascotia_annapoliscounty
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format
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record
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Settlement Name
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Annapolis County
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Has Policy?
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Yes
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Policy
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Street Naming:
Naming of roads, streets and communities and the adjustment of community boundaries is subject to statutory and regulatory restrictions and established practices of the Department of Transportation & Public Works and the Municipality. Procedures must be consistent to ensure that the integrity of the civic addressing system is maintained. This policy defines the steps that shall be followed when it is proposed that: the name of an existing road or street (public or private) be changed or the name or boundaries of a community be changed; or the Municipality assign the name of a new road, street or road reserve as a result of subdivision of land pursuant to the Subdivision Bylaw; or the Municipality assign the name of a new private road or street or road reserve as a result of subdivision of land pursuant to the Subdivision Bylaw; or a name be assigned to an existing road or community not previously named. New names for roads, streets and communities will be carefully reviewed to minimize the potential for conflicts with existing names. Changing the name of a road, street or community has important historical and public safety implications with preference or greater consideration to be given to the traditional name acknowledged by local residents. Accordingly, a name change should only be considered in a very limited number of situations. Emergency responder services shall be consulted as a part of any civic address change process.
BASIC POLICY PRINCIPLES 4.1 Procedures and evaluation criteria. Unless otherwise stated, the procedures and evaluation criteria are to be in accordance with the guidelines specified in the Nova Scotia Civic Address File (NSCAF) Pilot Project - Final Report. 4.2 Duplication, numbers, suffixes or prefixes are to be avoided. There should be no duplication or near duplication of road and community names within the Municipality. Numerals should not appear in a road or community name nor names differentiated by just a prefix or suffix. Examples - If Bayview Boulevard exists in the County, this name (with or without add-ons) would not be accepted for another community in the County. - Since the community of Port Lorne exists, this name (with or without changes in prefixes or suffixes) would not be accepted for another community in the County (such as Fort Lorne, Upper Port Lorne, Port Lorne Extension). - 1 st Avenue or 2nd Street would not be acceptable. - First Avenue or Second Street would be acceptable. - Upper Station Road or Lower Water Street would not be acceptable. - If Portland Road exists, the name Portland Street would not be acceptable.
4.3 Confusion is to be avoided. In order to minimize diction problems when reporting road names under stress, names that sound very similar are to be avoided. Examples - If Smith Road exists; then Smyth Road, Smith’s Road or Smit Road would not be accepted. - Since the community of Lawrencetown exists, then Lorncetown, Laurencetown, Lewiston or Lawrenceville would not be accepted. 4.4 Continuity of road name to be a criteria. A road running in one compass direction should have one name only and should, at least within a community, have the same name throughout its entire length. 4.5 Changing an existing name is to be discouraged. A request to change the name of a road, street or community will be considered only if: 4.5.1 there are valid public safety considerations which affect the civic address system and/or the E911 database; or 4.5.2 valid issues have been sufficiently documented and adequately presented relative to community identity, heritage and traditions; and 4.5.3 property owners have been adequately informed and a 2/3 majority or greater of area residents support the change of road name as evidenced by a community survey in an approved format; or 4.5.4 there are important civic objectives or purposes which may be achieved by approving a change; and 4.5.5 the change is approved by Municipal Council.
EVALUATION CRITERIA
5.1 General Criteria 5.1.1 Names that existed prior to approval of this policy are hereby accepted unless the Civic Addressing Coordinator determines a change in name is necessary. 5.1.2 Only English or French versions will be accepted, with appropriate accents being applied in accordance to the rules of the language and the English version being easy to pronounce, recognizable and easy to spell. 5.1.3 The long-standing, local usage of the name by the local public will be given preference. 5.1.4 Names must reflect good taste as perceived by the general public. 5.1.5 Names submitted with special characters will only be accepted if found in the ASCH special character set (See Schedule A) 5.1.6 Qualifying words (upper, lower, new, old, north, south, east, west, etc.) will not be accepted for proposed changes or new names unless such qualifier is found in the Nova Scotia Gazetteer or if approved by the Civic Addressing Coordinator. 5.1.7 All names for roads or streets must have an associated road type, and only road types identified in Section 5.3 will be accepted. 5.1.8 Road names containing a number must be alphanumeric (such as First Street) and submissions using a numeric (such as 1st Street) will not be accepted. 5.1.9 Name submissions for communities and roads (including road type) shall have a total of no more than 35 characters. 5.1.10 The following identifiers or references are not acceptable: (1) homonyms or like sounding names within the Municipality; for example, “Smith”, Smyth”, Smythe”, “Smith’s”, “Smiths”, “Smit” or “Smits”.
(2) a personal name (combination of given and surname) unless such application is in the public interest. (The person commemorated should have contributed significantly to the area where the road is located and the adoption of the personal name during the lifetime of the person concerned should only be made in exceptional circumstances.) (3) formal titles of distinctions associated with a person name such as Captain, Major or Doctor. (4) company or commercial product names and names associated with copyright or trademarks. 5.1.11 Ownership of land should not in itself be grounds for the application of the owner’s name to a road or community, nor does ownership confer the right to specify the name without consultation with area residents. 5.1.12 Mixed language name submissions should be avoided (example: Chapeau Road or Port Petite community).
Road Types Only the following road types will be accepted for name submissions:
Type – Code - Definition
Avenue (also Fr.) - Ave - A thoroughfare in an urban setting that is used primarily for local traffic.
Boulevard (also Fr.) - Blvd - A major thoroughfare running in a diagonal direction and usually with a landscaped center.
Court (also Fr.) - Crt - A short drive usually less than 300 metres, branching
Crescent – Cres - from an intersection and ending in a cul-de-sac or dead (Croissant-Fr. Crois) end.
Drive -Dr -A winding thoroughfare longer than 300 meters.
Lane - Lane -A reduced right-of-way or curving street of less than 300 meters, branching from courts and ending in a cul-de-sac or dead end.
Loop- Loop -A short drive that begin and end in the same street.
Road -Rd -A thoroughfare in a rural setting which is frequently (Chemin-Fr Chemin) used, has heavy traffic volume and runs in any direction.
Street - St A thoroughfare in an urban setting which is frequently (Rue-Fr Rue) used, has heavy traffic volume and runs in any direction.
N/A for other place names
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Place Name Tools
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Street name change form: file:///Users/Kate/Downloads/1.4.5%20Road%20Naming%20and%20Community%20Adjustment%20Policy%20(1).pdf
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Contact Info
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cmackintosh@annapoliscounty.ca
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Policy Score
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56
