Title
Amendment to the City Council Policy for Naming City Property, Facilities and Streets - Citywide - Applicant: City of Alameda. Public hearing to review and comment on the City Council-initiated revisions to the Policy for Naming City Property, Facilities and Streets. CEQA Determination: The proposed amendment is not a project under CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15378 and Public Resources Code Section 21065. No further environmental review is needed
Body
To: Honorable President and
Members of the Planning Board
From: Amy Wooldridge, Recreation and Parks Director
Allen Tai, City Planner
BACKGROUND
Naming public spaces such as parks and city streets is meaningful and powerful. This was evident during 2020 in the discussion of removing monuments of people with histories of racism and discrimination as well as through the City of Alameda's (City) renaming of Jackson Park to Chochenyo Park.
The existing City Council Policy for Naming City Property, Facility and Streets (Naming Policy), addresses naming new City facilities and renaming existing facilities (Exhibit 1). It was last updated and adopted by City Council on May 17, 2016, to include procedures for naming streets after business entities. Otherwise, the current Naming Policy dates back to the 1990s with a focus on historical themes.
During the process concerning the renaming of Jackson Park, the Recreation and Parks Commission and community-led Park Renaming Committee discussed the need to update the Naming Policy to reflect better current standards and values.
On February 16, 2021, the City Council discussed changes to the Naming Policy and directed staff to revise the Naming Policy and bring a draft to various City Boards and Commissions for review and comment. On April 8, 2021, the Recreation and Parks Commission reviewed high level concepts for the Naming Policy and requested that the draft Naming Policy be brought back for review. Comments from the Histori...
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