Moncton Naming Policy for Streets, Trails and Civic Facilities
Policy Category: Community Safety Services (CSS)
Policy No.: POL-CSS-UP-001
Replaces No.: Policy 1308
Approving Authority:
Moncton City Council
Effective Date:
December 19, 2005
Last Reviewed Date:
December 3, 2018
Owner Department:
Urban Planning (UP) 1. Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to:
1. Establish City Council’s priorities with respect to the naming of streets, trails and civic facilities within the City of Moncton;
2. Define the roles and responsibilities of City Council, Committees of Council and City departments and the Staff Name Bank Technical Group in the naming and renaming of streets, trails and civic facilities;
3. Establish the criteria that will be used in the naming of streets, trails and civic facilities; and to
4. Outline the procedures that are to be followed when naming streets, trails or civic facilities.
2. Definitions
Arterial street means a high-capacity urban road. The primary function of an arterial road is to deliver traffic from collector roads to freeways, and between urban centres at the highest level of service possible. Many arterial roads have limited-access, or feature restrictions on private access.(e.g. Mountain Road)
Civic facility means any land, building or structure owned and/or managed by the City of Moncton, and includes but is not limited to municipal buildings, parking lots, arenas, sports fields, neighbourhood parks, fountains, squares, gardens, structures and playgrounds. However, for the purposes of this policy, specifically excludes trails.
Commercial name means the name of a private (for profit) business or organization and does not include the name of a business owner/operator.
Collector street means a low-to-moderate-capacity road which serves to move traffic from local streets to arterial streets. Unlike arterials, collector streets are designed to provide access to
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residential properties (e.g. Evergreen Drive.
Local minor street means a residential street which forms a cul-de-sac or a crescent used primarily for access to abutting properties.
Moncton Name Bank or “The Bank” means a database of Council-approved names that is maintained on an ongoing basis and serves as the main source of potential names for streets, trails and civic facilities in Moncton.
Naming means either the naming or renaming a street, trail or a civic facility.
Naming Policy means the City of Moncton Naming Policy for Streets, Trails and Civic Facilities.
Private street means streets that are not owned by the City of Moncton.
Street means any street, road, lane, thoroughfare, footpath, bridge or place open or used by the public.
Trails means a narrow thoroughfare similar to a lane or path intended for pedestrian or active transportation uses.
3. Policy Statements
1. The primary consideration for the selection of names for streets, trails and civic facilities is to ensure emergency services and individuals can locate addresses and facilities easily and without confusion.
2. The naming of public streets, trails and civic facilities shall also provide the opportunity to recognize, reflect and commemorate people, events, places, wildlife, flora, fauna and natural features that are associated with the City of Moncton, New Brunswick or Canada.
3. It is important to the City of Moncton to support and celebrate the two official languages and linguistic communities, promote a value and source of pride that they represent through their unique cultures, and foster a sense of belonging and true equality for all of its citizens. Names selected for its public streets, trails and civic facilities shall reflect and celebrate the historical, cultural, ethnic and linguistic characteristics of the community and citizens shall have an opportunity to contribute to the naming process.
4. Further to Policy Statement 3, it is the City’s goal to approve the use of names such that the following ratios regarding languages are achieved on a yearly basis:
• 45% English;
• 45% French; and
• 10% other languages.
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5. The City will continue to rely upon the name bank to serve as a primary source of potential names for public streets, trails and civic facilities. Alternate names, not found in the Name Bank, may be considered by City Council in special circumstances, as detailed in the Naming Policy.
6. A Staff Name Bank Technical Group will be responsible for updating and maintaining the Moncton Name Bank and ensuring compliance with the Naming Policy.
7. All proposed names to be added or retired from the Moncton Name Bank and the proposed names of all public streets, trails and civic facilities shall be forwarded to Moncton City Council for approval.
8. The process and requirements for naming streets, trails and civic facilities will be clearly outlined and made available for the public and development community to access on the City’s website.
4. General Naming Criteria
1. To ensure that emergency services and individuals can locate addresses and facilities easily and without confusion:
a. All proposed names shall be unique. There shall be no duplication of names within the City of Moncton or with names already existing in adjoining communities that share emergency service providers (Fire and RCMP). In addition:
i. Names sounding very similar to existing names shall be refused (e.g. “Dayton” and “Deighton”);
ii. Identical names with different suffixes shall be refused (e.g. Caddy Crescent and Caddy Court);
iii. Identical names with different extensions shall be avoided (e.g. Meadowvale and Meadowlands);
iv. For emergency services operations reasons, proposed names that represent the translated version of an existing name shall be avoided (e.g. Cottage Road should be avoided when the street name Rue Chalet exists).
b. Prior to making any recommendations to City Council regarding proposed street and trail names, the City shall liaise with the New Brunswick 911 bureau to determine if a duplicate or similar sounding name already exists.
c. The City shall request that the New Brunswick 911 bureau reserve all proposed street and trail names that are approved by City Council.
2. Proposed names for the Name Bank which are derogatory or offensive shall not be accepted.
3. Commercial names shall not be included in the Name Bank. In special circumstances, City Council may consider the use of commercial names in conjunction with proposed facilities.
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4. To ensure that there is adequate room on street signs, names shall not exceed 20 characters, including any prefix/suffix and spaces between letters. This limitation shall not apply to the naming of trails and facilities.
5. All proposed names and signage shall include all applicable accents.
6. Names of living persons shall only be used in exceptional circumstances.
5. Name Bank
1. The Name Bank will be updated and maintained in order to provide a list of possible names that recognize and commemorate people, events, places, wildlife, flora, fauna and natural features that are associated with the City of Moncton, New Brunswick or Canada.
2. To be recommended for inclusion in the Bank, names shall meet the following criteria:
a. Proposed name must fall under at least one of the following categories:
i. A name to honour a noteworthy person associated with the history of the City of Moncton or who made a significant contribution to the City of Moncton.
ii. A name to honour Monctonians that served in the Canadian military.
iii. A name (person, place or thing) that has cultural and/or historical significance to Moncton, New Brunswick or Canada.
iv. A name that recognizes the wildlife, flora, fauna or natural features of Moncton and New Brunswick.
v. A name which celebrates and/or is unique to a particular location or part of the city.
b. Naming proposals shall be adequately researched and documented by the submitter, and shall be verified by the Staff Name Bank Technical Group.
c. In the case where the name proposed relates to a specific person, the Staff Name Bank Technical Group will make reasonable efforts to consult with the person’s family. If no objections are received, the name will be recommended for the Name Bank.
d. Proposed names must comply with criteria established in Section 4.
3. The names selected for the Bank shall be balanced to reflect the cultural, ethnic and linguistic characteristics of Moncton, with a target of achieving the linguistic ratios outlined in Policy Statement 4.
The name bank will be divided into various naming themes. Emphasis may be placed on enriching or adding a theme of the Bank, or adding particular types of names to the list at various times in order to recognize aspects of the community that may otherwise be underrepresented on the Name Bank list.
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4. The Name Bank may reserve particular names or groups of names for different geographical parts of the city and/or for specific streets, trails, and/or civic facilities in the city.
5. Additions to the Moncton Name Bank may be proposed by any member of the public, including citizens, citizen groups, landowners, developers, members of City Council and City staff. Proposals shall be made by completing an application form and submitting it to the Staff Name Bank Technical Group. All proposals will be reviewed by the Staff Name Bank Technical Group. (See also Section 6)
6. Names may be retired from the Bank at the recommendation of the Staff Name Bank Technical Group and upon approval by Moncton City Council.
7. The Name Bank shall be maintained by the Information Systems Department in the Corporate Geographic Information System (GIS), in accordance with the standard operation procedure included in Appendix 4.
8. The Urban Planning Department shall be responsible for ensuring that an up-to-date version of the Name Bank is located on the City website.
9. Efforts shall be made to ensure that the Moncton Name Bank includes a pool of 300 available names.
6. Staff Name Bank Technical Group
1. Upon adoption of the Naming Policy, a Staff Name Bank Technical Group shall be established, with representation from the following City departments:
a. Information Services (GIS)
b. Urban Planning
c. Engineering and Environmental Services
d. Parks & Leisure Services
e. Tourism and Culture (representation from both the Heritage and Cultural Units)
f. Corporate Communications
The Urban Planning Department shall be responsible for coordinating the activities of the Staff Name Bank Technical Group and shall act as the key contact person for queries related to the Name Bank.
The Staff Name Bank Technical Group shall have a standing monthly meeting time booked to ensure timely follow-up to requests and issues. Additional meetings may be called as required.
2. The Staff Name Bank Technical Group shall be responsible for administering and promoting the Moncton Name Bank. This work shall include:
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i. Updating the City’s website to include an overview of the Naming Policy, the process and requirements for the naming streets, trails and civic facilities, and the opportunity for the public to nominate a name to the Moncton Name Bank
ii. Administration of the application process for the submission of proposed names by the public,
iii. Review of proposed names in accordance with the criteria established in the Naming Policy,
iv. Forwarding of recommendations to City Council on the addition or retiring of names to the Moncton Name Bank, and
v. Periodic reporting to City Council on the status of the Moncton Name Bank.
3. Moncton City Council shall review and approve the initial Moncton Name Bank and all amendments (addition and removal of names).
4. Any proposed names for streets, trails and facilities that are not found on the Moncton Name Bank list and/or any exceptions to the Naming Policy shall be forwarded to the Staff Name Bank Technical Group for review prior to a recommendation being brought forward to City Council.
7. Procedures and Criteria for Naming a New Street
1. In accordance with the Community Planning Act, the naming of streets created through subdivision shall be subject to the approval of City Council, in consultation with the City’s Planning Advisory Committee (PAC).
2. The names of streets shall be chosen from the Name Bank, unless otherwise authorized by City Council.
3. Notwithstanding item 2, a developer proposing a subdivision containing 2 or more local minor streets, may be exempted from choosing a street name from the Name Bank for not more than 50% of the local minor streets.
4. Developers and landowners are encouraged to nominate a preferred name or names to the Moncton Name Bank (in accordance with Section 5(5)) well in advance of making an application for subdivision. Names submitted for a particular development and accepted by City Council, if requested in writing, will be reserved for use for the development for a period of ten years.
5. Developers and landowners are encouraged to consider the use of a theme throughout a particular neighbourhood area. In accordance with Section 5(4), City Council may direct that proposed names be reserved for a Particular location or part of the city for future use by the developer.
6. Private streets shall be required to conform to the General Naming Criteria of this policy (Section 4).
7. All street names must adequately address the following street naming principles:
a. Streets running in a continuous configuration should have the same name throughout its entire
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length.
b. Streets with permanent physical barriers (e.g. a river, park, permanent barricade) shall have different names assigned to each section.
c. “Bulbs” or road indentations along a principal street shall have the same name.
d. Cul-de-sacs shall have a completely different name than the cross street.
e. For continuity, the names of new streets shall take into consideration future development on adjacent land.
f. Cardinal points (i.e. N, W, E, S,) shall only be used as an option to resolve numbering issues or to segment an existing long street or to account for eminent future development.
g. To ensure that street suffixes are used in a consistent manner, all proposed street name suffixes shall comply with the City of Moncton Street Suffix Classification System (Appendix 1).
h. Although a proposed name may be listed in the Name Bank, prior to making recommendations to City Council for the use of a proposed name for a specific street, the City shall liaise with the New Brunswick 911 bureau to determine if a duplicate or similar sounding name already exists.
i. Prior to the extension of a tentative plan approval, the City shall liaise with the New Brunswick 911 bureau to confirm that there are no new concerns with respect to reusing the same proposed street name.
j. The City shall request that the New Brunswick 911 bureau reserve all proposed names that are approved by City Council.
8. Names not chosen from the Name Bank must address the naming criteria established in Section 4 and 7(7).
8. Procedure for Renaming a Street
1. Street name changes shall not be considered unless there is a safety issue, as determined by the City Engineer.
2. When a street name change is required (and requires the selection of a new name), the City shall consult and invite affected land owners to identify a preferred new street name from the Moncton Name Bank. A new name (not already listed in the Name Bank) may also be considered. The proposed street name shall be referred to the Staff Name Bank Technical Group for comment prior to a recommendation being presented for City Council approval.
3. If City Council approves the renaming, a public notice will be released announcing the new name, and affected landowners and occupants will be notified.
4. The City’s Civic Addressing Coordinator shall give affected owners and occupants of a property 180 days’ notice in writing of any changed or re-assigned civic address unless a shorter period is required due to a public safety concern.
5. The Civic Addressing Coordinator shall inform 911 and Canada Post of any streets that are in the process of being renamed.
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6. Retired names shall not be reused by the City for a street for a period of 20 years.
9. Procedure for Naming New Trails and Civic Facilities
1. The naming of new trails and civic facilities is subject to the approval of City Council.
2. The following naming principles shall be applied to trails and civic facilities:
a. As a general rule, the names of trails and civic facilities shall be selected from the Name Bank;
b. Notwithstanding item a:
i. Parks may be named after the name of the neighbourhood or the street on which they are located.
ii. Alternate names (not sourced from the Bank) may be proposed for parks where such names are the outcome of a public consultation process with residents). In such cases, the proposed name and relevant background information will be reviewed by the Moncton Staff Name Bank Technical Group to ensure compliance with the criteria established in Sections 3 and 5, and a record of the decision by City Council shall be recorded in the Moncton Name Bank.
iii. Components of civic facilities (e.g. rooms, pools, auditoriums, gymnasiums, galleries) shall be named by City Council in accordance with the Naming policy. In selecting names, consideration will be given to names available in the Moncton Name Bank, as well as particular organizations and persons who played a significant role in the establishment of the building in question. The name used for a component of a civic facility need not be removed from the Name Bank as it could be reused for a different purpose.
iv. Monuments and memorials shall be named in accordance with City of Moncton Monuments and Memorial Policy for Parks & Open Spaces)
v. In special circumstances, where a trail or civic facility is named to commemorate a geographic feature or a place with the use of a generic descriptive, Council may use both English and French terminology as part of the official name (e.g. Valley-Vallée, Southeast-Sud-est, Riverfront-Riverain).
vi. Fundraising campaigns and commercial naming rights are exempted.
c. Although a proposed name may be listed in the Name Bank, prior to making recommendations to City Council for the use of a proposed name for a specific trail, the City shall liaise with the New Brunswick 911 bureau to determine if a duplicate or similar sounding name already exists.
d. Prior to the extension of a tentative plan approval, the City shall liaise with the New Brunswick 911 bureau to confirm that there are no new concerns with respect to reusing the same proposed trail name.
e. The City shall request that the New Brunswick 911 bureau reserve all proposed trail names that are approved by City Council.
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10. Procedure for Renaming Trails and Civic Facilities
1. The general policy is that names of existing trails and civic facilities should not be changed. Renaming of existing trails and civic facilities will only occur if City Council determines to make such a change.
11. Naming of Trails and Civic Facilities by the Province of New Brunswick
1. While it is recognized that the naming of provincial trails and facilities is fully within the jurisdiction of the Province of New Brunswick, the City shall encourage the Province to consider the use of the Moncton Name Bank when selecting names for provincial trails or facilities located within the City of Moncton.
12. Monitoring
1. The Staff Name Bank Technical Group shall provide City Council with an annual update regarding the status of the Moncton Name Bank and the status of selected names with respect to the linguistic targets outlined in Policy Statement 4. Such reports may also include recommendations for improving the effectiveness of the Naming Policy.
13. Administration and Contact
City Hall 655 Main St., Moncton, NB E1C 1E8
Telephone: 506.853.3550
Email: info.clerk@moncton.ca
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Appendix 1 – City of Moncton Street Suffix Classification System
Category Abbreviations Description English French
Alley/allée
Alley
allée
A narrow or passageway between or behind buildings.
Avenue/avenue
Ave
av
Generally characterized as a straight or curvilinear collector or through highway.
Boulevard/boulevard
Blvd
boul
A four or two lane divided street separated by a median.
Court/cour
Crt
cour
A short local street including bulbs and cul-de-sacs.
Crescent/croissant
Cres
crois
A loop street which intersects with the same street at both ends.
Drive/promenade
Dr
prom
A two lane scenic street characterized by extensive landscaping.
Lane/ruelle
Ln
rle
A narrow street between houses, walls, hedges or fences.
Park/allée
Pk
allée
A street located in a pleasant, well- landscaped area.
Parkway/promenade
Pky
prom
A four or two lane divided scenic street characterized by extensive landscaping and controlled access.
Path/sentier
Pk
sent
A short and narrow street or a pedestrian way.
Place/place
Pl
place
A short local street including bulbs and cul-de-sacs.
Road/chemin
Rd
ch
Major through street.
Street/rue
St
rue
Generally characterized as a straight collector or through street.
Terrace/terrace
Terrace
terr
A local collector street.
Trail/sentier
Tr
sent
A narrow thoroughfare similar to a lane or path intended for pedestrian or active transportation uses.
Way/voie
Way
voie
Generally characterized by curvilinear collector or through highway.
(Note: Articles that can be included in the French version of the suffix i.e. du, de, la, des and de l’ will follow the suffix before the proper name.)