Planning and Environment Committee
Comité de l'urbanisme et de l'environnement
and Council / et au Conseil
Submitted by/Soumis par : Nancy Schepers, Deputy City Manager
Directrice municipale adjointe
Planning, Transit and the
Environment
Urbanisme, Transport en commun et
Environnement
Contact Person/Personne ressource : Sandra Garnett, Manager, Business
Integration Services
Building
Code Services Branch/Services d’intégration des
activités, Direction des services du code du bâtiment
(613) 580-2424 x 41544, sandra.garnett@ottawa.ca
SUBJECT:
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OBJET :
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RÈGLEMENT
MUNICIPAL SUR LA DÉSIGNATION DES RUES – MODIFICATION TECHNIQUE |
1.
That Planning and Environment Committee
recommend Council approve an amendment to the Municipal Addressing By-law
2005–322 and the Private Roadways By-law 2002–521 to delegate authority to
approve the correction of misspelled street names to the Director of Building
Code Services.
2.
That the process
for correcting the spelling of street names be exempted from the street name
change fee and notification provisions of the by-law.
1.
Que le Comité de l'urbanisme et de
l'environnement recommande au Conseil d'approuver une modification au Règlement
no 2005–322 sur les adresses municipales et au Règlement no 2002–521 en matière
de chemins privés afin de déléguer le pouvoir d'approuver la correction de noms
de rues contenant des fautes au directeur des Services du code du bâtiment.
2.
Que le processus de correction des
fautes d'orthographe dans les noms de rue soit exempt de frais pour le
changement de noms de rue et qu'il ne tienne pas compte des dispositions en
matière d’avis préalable du Règlement.
The
Building Code Services Branch of the Planning, Transit and the Environment
Department is commited to continuous service improvement, innovation, and
fiscal accountability. Accordingly, the
Branch, on an ongoing basis, seeks to identify opportunities for efficiencies,
increased productivity, cost reductions and cost avoidance.
The
Branch has identified a business process that could be streamlined which would
not only improve the administration of a business line, that of the assignment
of street names and civic numbers, but also benefit the community through cost
avoidance and the elimination of processes for what amounts to be an
administrative exercise.
The
Municipal Act, By-law 2005–322 and
By-law 2002-521 and the City’s Notice By-law require street name changes be
processed by way of an application, payment of fees to cover associated costs,
formal notification in local publications of the impending By-law, report to
Committee and Council and preparation and enactment of the implementing
by-law. Street name changes are
processed where public safety is at risk due to wayfinding difficulties caused
by the duplication of a name or similarly sounding name or where the street
name has been incorrectly spelt. Fees
for a street name change have been set at $2100.00 to ensure cost
recovery.
In
accordance with the Municipal Act,
street name changes can only proceed through the enactment of a by-law,
including any change to a name to correct a spelling mistake. Thus, the Municipal Addressing By-law
requires the assignment of considerable resources to a process that is costly
to both the City and the applicant.
This has had the unfortunate effect of discouraging individuals who were
aware of a spelling error from requesting a change.
A
prime example of this difficulty became evident with the street name
“Peikoff". The name of the family
was incorrectly written in the by-law as “Piekoff”. Family members requested a spelling correction and in order to
initiate and process the name change, payment of fees, designed to cover the
costs associated with the process, including formal notice of a proposed
by-law, was required, a full report to Committee and Council was drafted and
processed.
Over
the course of the last few years, a number of incorrectly spelled street names,
whether the error consisted of a misplaced letter, missing punctuation or an
incorrect diacritical mark, were brought to the attention of the Branch; for
example, Breboeuf Street, was named for the Jesuit Missionary, Jean de Brébeuf
and Bruyere Street was named after Soeur Elizabeth Bruyère. Other errors became apparent due to the
replacement of the old street name signs, which had names all in the upper case
without accents, punctuation and diacritical marks, and due to the new signs,
have the names spelled in the upper and lower cases. The lack of the correct accents, punctuation and diacritical
marks reflected the incorrectly spelled names confirmed in the registered plans
or the by-laws.
This report submits a proposal for streamlining a process that will result in efficiencies, cost avoidance, improved service delivery and the correction of misspelled street names within operating budgets.
Bill
130, which amended the Municipal Act,
expands the Council's authority to delegate legislative and quasi-judicial
powers to certain persons/bodies (s.23.1).
It is recommended that Council
delegate to the Director of Building Code Services Branch the authority to approve
street name changes in those instances where the change is required to correct
an error in the spelling of street name.
By delegating the authority to correct a street name that has been
misspelled, corrections of misspelled names will be handled administratively.
In
addition, by delegating the authority, costs associated with the preparation
and presentation of a report to Committee and Council for the correction of the
spelling of a name, previously approved by Council, will be avoided and staff
more appropriately assigned to processing other applications which will improve
service delivery.
New
process:
Upon
receipt of a request to correct the spelling of a street name, the Director
will review and confirm the correct spelling.
The Director will ensure the corrected name complies with the naming
guidelines set out in the By-laws, will consult with the Office of the City
Clerk to verify the correct spelling, and will advise the Ward Councillor of
the proposed change. An amending by-law
would be prepared and submitted to Council on the Orders of the Day for
enactment. Following the enactment of
the corrected name, notification of the name change will be provided to all
agencies and services. Finally, to
minimize costs, the street name signs will be corrected through the use of stickers
and regular lifecycle maintenance program for street signs.
It
is noted that the proposed delegation of authority and process will apply to
any misspelled name, regardless of language.
Recommendation
2.
It
is recommended that the notice provisions of both the Private Roadways By-law
2002-521 and the Municipal Addressing By-law 2005-322 be amended to exclude the
requirement for formal notification and consultation in advance of those street
name changes that are being processed to correct spelling errors.
While notice of full name changes will continue to be brought to the attention of the public to permit community input prior to the report being forwarded to Planning and Environment Committee and Council for consideration and approval, this approach is unnecessarily burdensome for a change that will result in a correction to a current name that Council has already approved. With the removal of this notice requirement, the costs of processing and actioning these corrections will be averted additionally, and efficiencies will be realized
The
concerns with respect to appropriate spelling of street names were originally
discussed at the French Languages Services Advisory Committee in 2006 in the
context of the appropriate spelling of French language names. Subsequently, staff reviewed all names for
potential incorrect spelling, whether the spelling was of French or English
language names. In addition, this
proposal was discussed in greater detail with those Ward Councillors
responsible for wards in which incorrectly spelled street names were
identified.
The two-stage
implementation process to minimize costs were discussed with and supported by
Traffic and Parking Operations of Public Works and Services.
The City Solicitor was consulted on the requirements for public notification and by-law revisions for correcting misspelled street names. The City Solicitor advised on the opportunity to simplify the administrative processes in view of the opportunities presented by Bill 130.
While there may be no immediate or significant savings, this initiative will ensure the Branch will avoid future administrative costs associated with drafting and scheduling reports to Committee and Council for the simple task of correcting the spelling of a street name. The discontinuation of the requirement to submit an application and payment of fees will not impact Branch revenues as such applications were seldom.
Document 1 Proposed By-law Amendments to By-law 2005–322 (Municipal Addressing and Civic Numbering By-law) and By-law 2002-521 (Private Roadway By-law) and the City’s Notice By-law in support of the changes to the notice requirement and the delegation of authority to approve spelling corrections to the Director of Building Code Services Branch.
Legal
Services Branch, to prepare the by-law amendments for enactment by City
Council.
Planning, Transit and the Environment Department, Building Code Services, to implement new provisions.
DOCUMENT
1
PROPOSED BY-LAW AMENDMENTS TO BY-LAW 2005–322 (MUNICIPAL ADDRESSING AND CIVIC NUMBERING BY-LAW) AND BY-LAW 2002-521 (PRIVATE ROADWAY BY-LAW) AND THE CITY’S NOTICE BY-LAW
BY-LAW NO. 2008-
A by-law of the City of Ottawa to amend By-law No. 2005-322 respecting municipal addressing.
The Council of the City of Ottawa enacts as follows:
1. Section 4 of By-law No. 2005-322 entitled “A by-law of the City of Ottawa respecting the naming of highways and the numbering of building lots” is amended by:
(a) striking out the word “and” where it occurs at the end of clause (c);
(b) striking out the punctuation “.” where it occurs at the end of clause (d) and substituting the punctuation and word “, and” therefor; and
(c) adding the following clause immediately after clause (d):
(e)
to correct a mis-spelled highway name.
2. The said By-law No. 2005-322 is amended by adding the following heading and section immediately after Section 6:
CORRECTION OF A HIGHWAY NAME
6A. Sections 5, 6 and 8 do not apply to authority delegated to the Director pursuant to Section 4, clause (e).
6B. Prior to the Director approving the correction of a mis-spelled highway name, the Director shall
(a) conduct any research required to confirm the correct spelling of the highway name;
(b) ensure the correct spelling of the highway name complies with Schedule “A”, Highway Naming Guidelines; and
(c) advise the Ward Councillor(s) of the correct spelling of the highway name.
3. Section 7 of the said By-law No. 2005-322 is amended by adding the expression “clause (e) of Section 4,” immediately after the expression “pursuant to” where it occurs therein.
ENACTED AND PASSED this day of , 2008.
CITY CLERK MAYOR
BY-LAW NO. 2008 -
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
A by-law of the City of Ottawa to amend By-law No. 2005-322 respecting municipal addressing.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Enacted by City Council at its meeting of, 2008.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
LEGAL SERVICES
COUNCIL AUTHORITY:
BY-LAW NO. 2008-
A by-law of the City of Ottawa to amend By-law No. 2002-521 respecting private roads.
The Council of the City of Ottawa enacts as follows:
1. By-law No. 2002-521 entitled “A by-law of the City of Ottawa respecting private roadways”, as amended, is amended by adding the following heading and sections immediately after Section 7:
CORRECTION OF A PRIVATE ROADWAY NAME
6A. The provisions of Sections 4, 5, and 6 do not apply to the approval by the Director to correct the mis-spelled name of a private roadway.
6B. Prior to the Director approving the correction of a mis-spelled name of a private roadway, the Director shall:
(d) conduct any research required to confirm the correct spelling of the private roadway name;
(e) ensure the correct spelling of the private roadway name complies with Schedule “B”, Guidelines for Naming Private Roadways and Numbering Adjacent Property;
(f) advise the Ward Councillor(s) of the correct spelling of the private roadway name; and
(g) provide a written notice by registered mail to the owners of the private roadway.
3. Section 8 of the said By-law No. 2002-521 is amended by adding the expression
“or a correction pursuant to Section 6A” immediately after the expression “Section 6” where it occurs therein.
ENACTED AND PASSED this day of , 2008.
CITY CLERK MAYOR
BY-LAW NO. 2008 -
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
A by-law of the City of Ottawa to amend By-law No. 2002-521 respecting private roads.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Enacted by City Council at its meeting of May 14, 2008.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
LEGAL SERVICES
COUNCIL AUTHORITY: