TITLE
Recommendation to name the park site located between Spring Street and Willow Street, Orange Avenue, and California Avenue, Willow Springs Park, and in addition approve the name for the 4-acre parcel within the same boundaries as Longview Point.
DISCUSSION
On August 21,2012, 7th District City Councilmember James Johnson requested that the Mayor and Members of the City Council refer to the Parks and Recreation Commission a request to recommend a name for the park site located between Spring Street, Willow Street, Orange Avenue and California Avenue as well as a name for a 4-acre parcel within the same boundaries. The Parks and Recreation Commission recommendation will be transmitted to the Housing and Neighborhoods Committee and the full City Council.
The Administrative Regulations AR 8-7 applies to the naming of all public land, buildings and facilities. AR 8-7 provides several policies to guide the consideration of a naming request. The following are those policies:
• The name should incorporate Long Beach whenever important for civic recognition or identification;
• A name in honor of a recognized geographic area, a topographic feature or a historically significant event may be appropriate;
• A name in honor of persons or families who have donated the land or a substantial portion of the improvement costs may be appropriate when applicable;
• A name in honor of a person or persons who have served the nation, the State of California, and/or the City of Long Beach in an exceptional or distinguished manner may be appropriate if warranted by service of major significance;
• A name in honor of a living person, or of a deceased person within one year of their death, is not appropriate unless the significance of that person's contribution is worthy of an exception to the policy;
• A name in honor of a person is not appropriate when a name in honor of another person has been given to the same site, building or facility in the past;
• A name in honor of a person is not appropriate if that person have been overly recognized in the past; and,
• A name may be selected through a competition or a contest.
In accordance with this regulation, the name referred to the Parks and Recreation Commission, "Willow Springs Park", reflects both a recognized geographic and historic feature of the City. This area is the location of the City's original 1882 water source due the natural springs that occurred on the site. As a result, the site has a number of established willow trees following the historic watercourse. These same features led to the naming of Willow Avenue and Spring Street adjacent to this property. The 4-acre site within the park also reflects a recognized geographic feature of the City as it is the highest publicly accessible point in Long Beach, thus the name "Longview Point" is recommended.
The Parks and Recreation Commission considered this request at their September 13, 2012 meeting (Attachment) and unanimously approved this request.
TIMING CONSIDERATIONS
City Council action on this matter is not time critical.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact with the recommendation action.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
Respectfully Submitted,
APPROVED:
PATRICK H. WEST
CITY MANAGER