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RESOLUTION R-1718-71: A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORMAN, OKLAHOMA, CHANGING THE STREET NAME FROM DEBARR AVENUE TO DEANS ROW AVENUE FOR PROPERTY GENERALLY LOCATED NORTH OF BOYD STREET, SOUTH OF DUFFY STREET AND WEST OF JENKINS AVENUE.
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BACKGROUND: On Tuesday, November 28, 2017, City staff received a petition from the property owners adjacent to DeBarr Avenue seeking to change the name of a street from DEBARR AVENUE to DEANS ROW. The City’s current policy regarding the renaming of City Streets is embodied in Resolution R-0809-60. Staff has verified the petition meets the requirements of the current Resolution R-0809-60 and is now forwarding the request to City Council for consideration.
DISCUSSION: The street name for DeBarr Avenue was created by the surveyor Edwin DeBarr for the owners with the filing of the final plat for Larsh’s University Addition, recorded with the Cleveland County Clerk on September 10, 1901. During this period of time, final plats were not submitted to City Council for approval. DeBarr Avenue is approximately 1,100 feet in total length and is located between Boyd Street on the south and Duffy Street on the north.
The information submitted with the Petition has been reviewed by City Staff. Ownership lists have been verified and a total of 75% of property owners adjacent to DeBarr Avenue are requesting the street name change. Although the request is to name the street “Dean’s Row”, Staff recommends including “AVENUE” to be consistent with the streets in the area where all north/south streets are designated as “Avenue”, i.e. “Deans Row Avenue”. The proposed street name does not duplicate any existing street names within the City. The application fee of $200 has been submitted by one of the property owners, Mr. Millsap.
The Petition was finalized by Mr. Millsap prior to circulation. Staff understands from conversation with Mr. Millsap that adding the word “Avenue” to the request does not change the substance of the requiest in his opinion. In addition, the language of the Petition appears to allocate costs and fees associated with the name change to the City of Norman. When explained to Mr. Millsap that this portion of the Petition was not consistent with City’s current street renaming policy, he indicated that all costs and fees associated with the name change will be donated or paid by others to comply with the current street renaming policy.
It has been recognized that the official designation of street names and addresses are particularly important when emergency services are needed. A procedure has been established to formalize the renaming of streets with Council’s prior adoption of Resolution R-0809-60. Staff’s review indicates this request, as outlined above, meets that procedure.
RECOMMENDATION: Based on the above information, Staff recommends approval of the street name change. If approved, Resolution R-1718-71 will be filed of record with the Cleveland County Clerk. If approved, the filed documents will be distributed to various agencies within the City to ensure an accurate and reliable process for designating the name of this particular street.