[Adopted 7-18-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-08]
The purpose of this article is to establish a uniform procedure for the official naming of parks, trails, recreation areas, and recreational facilities to ensure that these public amenities are easily identified and located and given names that are consistent with the values and character of the area, neighborhood, or community served.
It is the policy of the Borough of East Rutherford to name newly acquired or developed or unnamed public parks, recreation areas, trails, and recreational facilities based upon the procedures set forth in this article. A facility within a park (e.g., playground, picnic shelter, ball field, etc.) can be named separately from the park subject to the same criteria.
A. 
Names may be nominated by: 1) the East Rutherford Advisory Committee on Recreation (the "Board"); 2) the Mayor and Council; or 3) by individuals or organizations who shall submit the proposed name to the Board for consideration and approval as an action item on the Board's public meeting agenda. If a majority of the Board approves the name based upon the criteria under § 210-15, the Board shall then submit the name to the Borough Council for consideration with its written recommendation of the name. The Borough Council shall make the final decision by a majority vote at a public meeting by adoption of a resolution.
B. 
Exceptions to this procedure:
(1) 
Public parks dedicated with new subdivisions, which can be named by the developer using the criteria in § 210-15 as a guideline subject to Borough Council's approval and indicated on the final plat;
(2) 
If a contest or competition is to be held to determine the name of a park or recreation facility, the Board shall establish guidelines and rules for the contest; or
(3) 
Capital campaigns for the purpose of naming rights through donations, in which case the Board shall establish guidelines and rules as well as amounts for the capital campaign.
It is the policy of the Borough to choose names for public parks and recreation facilities based upon the site's relationship to the following criteria:
A. 
Neighborhood, geographic, or common usage identification.
B. 
A historical figure, place, event or other instance of historical or cultural significance.
C. 
Natural or geological features.
D. 
An individual who has been deceased for at least two years who:
(1) 
Has made a significant land and/or monetary contribution (51% or more) to the particular park or recreational facility at issue;
(2) 
Has had a contribution made "in memoriam" to the park representing 51% or more of the land or facility development costs and the name has been stipulated as a condition of the donation;
(3) 
Has performed extraordinary or outstanding public service for the good of the community in regards to parks, trails, recreational facilities and/or open space;
(4) 
Was an outstanding community leader who made significant civic contributions to the Borough; or
(5) 
Was an outstanding regional or statewide leader who contributed significantly to the promotion of parks and recreation and/or land conservation.
E. 
Parks, trails, and recreational facilities shall not ordinarily be named for living persons, except in the event that an individual, family, or organization has donated the land for a new park, donated more than 60% of the cost of developing the park or facility, or has established a maintenance endowment of 60% or more of the projected maintenance cost for 20 years, and such donation is made with the stipulation that the name is a condition of the land or monetary donation.
F. 
Names that duplicate or that are very similar to existing parks, recreational facilities, trails, or other facilities in the Borough system shall not be considered in order to avoid confusion.
A name selected for a park or recreation facility should be bestowed with the intention that it will be permanent, and changes should be strongly resisted. Name changes shall be subject to the procedures set forth in this article.
Following selection of a name by the Borough Council, the Public Works Department will identify the specific park or facility with appropriate signage specifying the name. The signage will be designed according to the existing parks and recreation sign policy for plaques, markers, and memorials.
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or word of this article is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this article. The Council hereby declares that it would have passed this article and each section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, and words thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, phrases or words have been declared invalid or unconstitutional, and if for any reason this article should be declared invalid or unconstitutional, then the remaining article provisions will be in full force and effect.