Solano County Municipal Code Art. III Road Naming

30-30 Names of roads

(a) Any county road may be officially named or the official name may be changed upon petition to the board of supervisors by sixty percent of the property owners owning property along the road, or upon adoption of a resolution of intention by the board of supervisors. The petition or resolution shall be set for public hearing and notice of such hearing shall be given by mailing notice to property owners owning property along the road determined by the current records of the county assessor, at least ten days before the hearing. At the hearing, or continued hearing, the board shall consider all name proposals and upon adoption or change thereof shall make an order in its minutes officially designating the name for the road. Thereafter, such road shall be known by the name so designated.

(b) Any county road which has not been officially named by the board of supervisors upon motion of the board and without any resolution, hearing or notice shall be named by an order duly made and entered in the minutes of the board. Thereafter, the road shall be known by the name thus designated.

(c)(1) Private road names shall be assigned to every access road that serves four or more dwellings and/or business establishments or combination thereof, except in shopping centers, apartment-type developments and other multiuse developments as may be determined by the director of environmental management.

(2) Names for private roads may be initially proposed, and proposals for changes in names of existing private roads may be made by any property owner whose property is served by the road. The director of transportation or environmental management shall solicit initial proposals from one or more such property owners, who shall have thirty days to make a proposal or proposals.

(3) If no proposal is received, the director of environmental management shall select a name.

(4) If one or more proposals are submitted, the director of transportation or environmental management shall select one name from those submitted.

(5) The name selected by the director of transportation or environmental management shall be submitted to all property owners served by the road. If a majority of such owners file written objections within fourteen days, the proposed name shall be rejected and the selection process repeated. If less than a majority of such owners file written objections, the director may either select a new name of the director’s choosing, repeat the selection process, or retain the proposed name.

(6) The name selected by the director of transportation or environmental management shall be submitted to interested emergency services agencies for approval. If objections are received, the director may reject the proposed name and repeat the selection process.

(7) The director of transportation or environmental management shall give written notice of the director’s final selection to all property owners served by the road who filed written objections. Any such person may appeal the selection by the director to the board of supervisors within ten days of such notice. If no appeal is filed, the selection of the director shall be final and conclusive. The board of supervisors shall hear the appeal at a public hearing preceded by ten days’ mailed notice to the owners of all property served by the road and by public posting in the area affected. The order of the board of supervisors after hearing shall be final and conclusive.

(8) The board of supervisors may name any private road that is a continuation of an existing county road. The private road may have the same name as the county road it extends, subject to the exceptions provision of subparagraph (g), below. This is to insure continuity in such road names.

(d) Road name selections shall be made on the basis of appropriateness and shall not exceed a length of seventeen letters. Names which are historically or descriptively significant to Solano County are encouraged. A classification of thoroughfares shall be based on intensity of use, importance, service requirements, or particular aesthetic characteristics. State thoroughfares shall be classified: state highway or road. Other public thoroughfares shall be classified: street or road. Private thoroughfares shall be classified: avenue, lane, drive, place, terrace, court, circle or trail.

(e) A road shall be known by the same name for its entire length, and where roads change direction by an angle greater than ninety degrees, each directional segment shall be known by a different name.

(f) An alphabetical list of all city street and county road names in Solano County shall be established and known as the Solano County master road index. The list shall be compiled and maintained by the director of environmental management. To provide future road names which are easily understood in verbal and written communications, new road names shall not be approved which have a similar spelling or sound to names in the Solano County master road index.

(g) Road naming exceptions may be granted where general naming integrity is otherwise preserved and name confusion is not likely to result.

(Ord. No. 1064, §1; Ord. No. 1182, §§4, 5, 6; Ord. No. 1332, §1; Ord. No. 1508, §6.)