Yorba Linda City Council adopts naming policy for parks, public facilities, replacing past practices

A first-ever policy outlining naming procedures for parks and public facilities was adopted at the May 1 Yorba Linda City Council meeting, replacing previous practices initiated by earlier councils that were often ignored by successor panels.

First use of the new policy is likely to be consideration of names for an arts center to be built adjacent a new library near the intersection of Lakeview Avenue with Lemon Drive. Construction is expected to begin in November.

The policy includes public input before an “appropriate commission,” similar to the Parks and Recreation Commission session last year that heard 400 proposals and resulted in the name “Checkers Dog Park” for a half-acre at Jean Woodward Park at 5411 Eastside Circle.

Commissioners will forward a recommended name to council, which can accept or reject the name, select a different name, approve a name that falls outside of the guidelines, or choose a name through an alternative process not outlined in the policy.

According to the policy, names “shall be noticeably different than all existing” facilities “to avoid duplication or confusion” and provide “a sense of location,” or “provide information about what can be expected at the location” or “reference long-established names for an area, park or facility.”

Facilities, the policy noted, “should have a traditional name, as well as incorporate 'Yorba Linda' where it is important...to be identified with the city.” Preferred categories of names include geographic, historic or indigenous references and native flora or natural features.

Also included are names of persons and community organizations that have made a significant contribution to the city, with individuals recognized posthumously. Names “may also be considered as a result of an agreement or donation in which terms and conditions” are approved by the council.

The city's third council adopted a motion in 1974 that parks “bear the names of trees and other flora indigenous to Yorba Linda and to the entire Southern California region,” with a possible mention of location.

In 1976, after the death of Councilman George Machado, chief architect of the city's low-density General Plan adopted in 1971 and voter-approved in 1972, the council adopted a resolution in Machado's memory.

Council resolved “to establish a policy that parks, streets and public facilities shall bear environmentally appropriate names, rather than the name of any person, living or dead.”

But Parks and Recreation Director Mike Kudron stated in a report to council that such a policy “was never established or adopted as part of the City Council policy manual.”

The city's first park in 1983 was named for Hurless Barton, whose 1924 service station, Liberty Garage, expanded into a Chevrolet dealership in 1928. He was named first city treasurer in 1967. A 1976 Machado memorial is at the southeast corner of Casa Loma Avenue and Imperial Highway.