(A) Approval agency. The Board of Aldermen designates development services to coordinate and ensure the naming and/or renaming of public and private roadways within the town complies with this section. Upon development services being satisfied with the compliance of this section, development services shall forward the petition for naming and/or renaming onto the Board of Aldermen for a public hearing where consideration and approval by majority vote will take place.
(B) Naming of new or private roadways. A property owner, developer, or citizen shall make application for approval of a proposed roadway name on a petition provided by development services and pay appropriate fees if applicable (see Town Fee Schedule). Upon receipt of a roadway name petition, Development Services shall review the proposed roadway names and make a recommendation to the Board of Aldermen for consideration. It shall be the responsibility of the property owners, developers, or citizens whose roadway is being petitioned to be named to continue to upkeep and maintain the private roadways at all times until and if the town accepts the private roadways. The agreement of the property owners to continue to upkeep and maintain said private roadways shall be presented in writing to development services prior to the approval of the roadways name. The town shall maintain all town roadways, but shall not maintain any private roadways within the town unless otherwise agreed upon or accepted by the town.
(C) Prohibited roadway names. Development services shall not recommend or consider a roadway name which is the same or similar in spelling or pronunciation to an existing roadway within the town. Nor will it recommend roadway names which are difficult to pronounce, have unconventional spelling, or are considered profane or offensive. Roadway names must not be over 18 characters in length.
(D) Changing existing roadway names. It is the intent of this subchapter to discourage the practice of changing existing roadway names except for the following upon a properly submitted petition:
(1) Where two identical or similar roadway names exist;
(2) When clearly making the accurate dispatching of emergency vehicles impractical;
(3) When one roadway has two commonly used names or where portions of what appears to be the same roadway have two or more names;
(4) Residents of the town may petition for a roadway name change following the procedures set forth in division (B) in addition to the following:
(a) All (100%) of the registered owners of property on the roadway or portion thereof in which the roadway name is proposed to be changed must be in agreement with the proposed roadways name change and such agreement shall be evidenced by the signatures of all registered property owners stating that they agree to the proposed name change.
(b) That the proposed name change of a roadway shall have a significant connection or contribution to the town or local community.
(c) That the citizen who is requesting the name change shall notify in writing Gaston County Department of Planning and Development Services, GIS division, for preliminary written approval that such name change would comply with existing Gaston County Ordinance regarding E911 and the total number of homes that the proposed name change would affect and impact.
(d) Any request to rename a roadway by a citizen of the town will consist of renaming the entire roadway. Portions of a roadway shall not be approved by the Board of Aldermen however, the first block of said roadway or the last block of said roadway can be considered and approved by a majority vote of the Board of Aldermen in favor of the proposed name change. Only the first block, last block, or whole roadway will be considered for renaming. Portions of blocks will not be considered for renaming. Once a continuous roadway has more than one name, no name changes will be considered or allowed unless it is petitioning for the entire roadway from the first block to the last block.
(E) Roadway name signs. The town will place and maintain signs on all public non-state maintained roadways in the town. These roadway signs shall be placed at intersections and shall identify intersecting roadways.
(1) Roadway sign standards. All signs shall consist of 12 foot poles and signs measuring six inches by 36 inches, six inches by 42 inches, or six inches by 48 inches dependent upon the roadway name. The roadway signs shall be green in color with reflective white lettering. The information to be included on the signs shall be the roadway name, suffix block number, and state-maintained roadway number or highway designation.
(2) Placement. All signs shall be placed at a suitable corner of each intersection, with the Street Department to choose a location with the maximum visibility.
(3) Subdivisions. The town shall place and maintain roadway signs within all subdivisions located in the subdivisions located in portions of the town unless the developer so chooses to furnish the signs. The signs must be placed in accordance with town standards and be placed on a colored background with reflective lettering. It will be the developer's responsibility to maintain any signs that are placed by agencies other than the town.
(4) Municipalities. The town shall place and maintain roadway signs within the jurisdiction of any municipality with whom there is a written agreement.
(5) Damage to signs. It shall be unlawful for any person, corporation, firm or association of persons to alter, remove, deface or damage any roadway name signs placed by the town pursuant to this subchapter and any amendments thereto, and any violation of this portion of this subchapter shall be a misdemeanor and shall be punished as allowed by law.
(Ord. passed 6-13-2017)