Title
Consideration of Renaming Robert E. Lee Street (Ordinance S-46949)
Description
Request to formally consider renaming Robert E. Lee Street in accordance with the city's Street Naming Policy that allows City Council members to request a change to a recorded street name when it is considered derogatory or offensive based on City Code Section 18-1. Staff requests approval to change the name of Robert E. Lee Street, as well as approval of the proposed new street name selection process outlined in this report, and of the proposed cost reimbursement policy for impacted residents, businesses and property owners outlined in this report. Further request authorization for the City Controller to disburse all funds related to this item.
Summary
In accordance with the City of Phoenix Street Naming Process approved by the City Council on June 27, 2017 (Attachment A), the City Council on July 1, 2020 voted to direct staff to begin the process to consider renaming of Robert E. Lee Street. The Street Naming Process requires conducting two community meetings, which the July 1, 2020 action authorized to be done virtually due to the pandemic. The process also requires a technical review process of proposed new names to ensure conformity to adopted street naming criteria. The Council approved process requires that within 90 days of the request an item be placed on a Council agenda to decide on the proposed street renaming. This report contains detailed information on public input, the technical review of proposed alternate names, a proposed process for additional involvement by Robert E. Lee Street property owners in the selection of a new street name, and a detailed plan to assist residents to update their addresses, including an outline of the cost reimbursement process, should the Council approve renaming of the street.
Public Input
On July 1, 2020 , the Council approved the initiation of the process for consideration of renaming of Robert E. Lee Street. That Council action included a temporary process revision to allow the two required community meetings to be conducted virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As stated in the July 1, 2020 Council-approved action: “The current process as approved by Council requires two public meetings to be conducted in the vicinity of each of the streets proposed for renaming. However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, staff requests as part of this action Council approval to revise the process to allow virtual public meetings to obtain public input from the affected neighbors and community.” Staff conducted two web forums to discuss the proposed renaming of Robert E. Lee Street and obtain community input. Residents were able to participate online or use their phones, including traditional landline telephones, which is similar to public participation at Council meetings during the pandemic. Residents and property owners of Robert E. Lee Street were notified of the opportunity to participate in the meetings through certified mailings, as well as multiple signs placed at various locations along the street. The live community web forums were held on July 28 and Aug. 3, 2020.
The community was also notified of the opportunity to provide input in other ways the City made available. These included:
- Telephone to directly speak with staff
- Comment form on dedicated street renaming webpage: www.phoenix.gov/street-renaming <http://www.phoenix.gov/street-renaming>
- Postal mail
In all, 121 people participated in the community forums. In addition to the spoken comments, there were 45 submitted written comments related to the proposed Robert E. Lee Street renaming. Also, to accommodate a request by residents who stated they were not comfortable meeting on the web forums, staff held a socially distanced, mask-required, in-person meeting with a group of 10 Robert E. Lee Street residents in the Paradise Valley Community Center Multipurpose Room on Aug. 10.
For all comments submitted, either in writing or through a forum, slightly more people favored renaming the street. For comments from people that indicated they lived on or immediately adjacent to Robert E. Lee Street, slightly more indicated they opposed renaming than supported it.
Attachment B includes all the public input gathered at the web forums, including the attendees’ positions on renaming, and a compilation of all comments submitted via email, web comment form, telephone and in writing. Comments from people who indicated they lived on or immediately adjacent (within one block) to the street are listed first and highlighted in yellow on all the meeting and comment spreadsheets.
Proposed Names
During the public comment process participants proposed more than 80 alternative names for Robert E. Lee Street. City staff performed a technical review of all the proposed names to determine which ones met the criteria outlined in the Maricopa Association of Governments Address and Street Assignment Policy Manual. The proposed names that met the established criteria are listed in Attachment C.
The criteria used to assess alternate name proposals first examines availability. If the proposed name is already in use on a street elsewhere in the greater Phoenix area, then it is determined to be not eligible; 41 proposed street names were excluded because of non-availability. This standard excludes those names to avoid adding to the list of duplicate street names and increasing the potential for confusion in emergency calls for Fire or Police services. Staff must also examine street names that may be overly difficult to pronounce or spell; no proposed street names for Robert E. Lee Street were excluded due to this standard. This standard is also related to avoiding confusion for emergency dispatchers and first responders in critical life-safety situations. Lastly, if a name was submitted that was considered obscene or referred to illegal/controlled substances, it was excluded; five submitted names were excluded for this reason.
Proposed Process for Selection of New Street Name
The proposed new street names listed in Attachment C were proposed both by residents living on and adjacent to Robert E. Lee St. and by members of the broader community. Several of the Robert E. Lee St. residents/owners indicated a desire to make the decision or at least have a larger say in the selection of the new street name by being allowed to vote on the new name. Because by ordinance the City Council must take action to vote on the new name, any vote by property owners would be an advisory recommendation to the City Council who would then make the final decision.
In responding to the request from residents, staff proposes the following process for selection of the new street name, if the City Council approves renaming the street:
- The City would conduct a process to allow property owners along Robert E. Lee Street to provide an advisory vote to the City Council for the new name of the street. The City Council would still be required to take the final action on an ordinance to change the name of the street.
- Certified letters would be mailed to property owners of Robert E. Lee Street with a survey containing the list of eligible proposed names that met the City criteria. Each letter would include a unique code that would allow the survey to be returned by mail or be submitted online.
- The survey would use a weighted ranking form of tabulation that would require residents to rank their top five name choices in their order of preference.
- A top-ranked choice would earn the highest numerical value with second, third and later ranked choices yielding correspondingly lower values.
- These ranking values would be totaled at the end of the vote to show the aggregate preference among property owners along Robert E. Lee Street.
- To ensure adequate time is provided, staff estimates this process may take approximately six weeks before returning to the Council for final action on the new street name.
- The results of the vote would be provided to the City Council at a future meeting along with a request to approve a new street name, along with an effective date.
- Staff will recommend that the effective date of the new name not occur before Jan. 11, 2021 to ensure sufficient time for residents, property owners and the City to make necessary changes.
Street Background
Robert E. Lee Street has 131 individual parcels that consists of 88 single-family residential, 29 town homes, two four-unit apartment buildings (eight total units), one charter school (on a residentially zoned parcel) and 11 HOA-owned common-area tracts. The street runs east to west from 52nd Street to State Route 51 with Union Hills Drive the major cross street to the north and Grovers Avenue the major cross street to the south. There is a small non-contiguous section of the street just east of Cave Creek Road (Attachment D).
The parcels that make up the current-day street were developed in stages over a 38-year period from 1954 until 1992 (Attachment E). The street was unincorporated Maricopa County land until 1988, when it was annexed into the City of Phoenix, as the annotations in Attachment E show. Three stretches of the road were dedicated as Lee Street in 1954, 1958 and 1960. Sometime between 1960 and 1961, Maricopa County changed the name to Robert E. Lee Street, which appeared for the first time as a recorded street name in 1961 (Attachment E, page 4). All street dedications made after that date were as Robert E. Lee Street.
Costs
The Street Transportation Department (Streets) estimates it will cost the City approximately $3,200 to fabricate and install new signs on Robert E. Lee Street, which will come from funds available in Streets' current fiscal year budget.
The Street Renaming Policy also stipulates that the City cover residents documented direct costs to update their address on personal documents and records, which staff estimates could be approximately $150 per address. Households are likely to have multiple residents that are impacted, which the estimate intends to account for. Homes that use their address for a registered business also may experience additional costs that exceed a typical residence.
An accurate estimate of resident/owner costs is difficult because in some instances residents have discretion on which documents to replace. For example, banks contacted by the City have explained that checks with the prior address can still be used as long as the account and routing numbers are the same. Residents can continue to use those checks as is, or simply handwrite in a corrected street name until they exhaust their existing supply. Also, the state Motor Vehicle Services Department (MVD) does not require driver’s licenses to be replaced for an address change; the address only needs to be updated in the agency’s system within ten days at no cost. However, many people use their driver’s license as a form of identification that shows their current address. If a resident chooses to replace their driver’s license, per the process outlined below, the City will reimburse the cost to replace it, which is currently $12.
In some cases, both a property owner who leases their property and tenants will be impacted. Based on the most recent Maricopa County property records available, 27 properties are owned by people with different mailing addresses, which likely indicates properties that are occupied by renters. Should all properties and tenants incur costs at the high end of the estimate, combined costs would be approximately $24,000. Based on Council approval, the funding will be allocated to the Planning and Development Department budget to cover the reimbursement cost.
Proposed Cost Reimbursement Policy
Staff proposes the following policy to reimburse expenses for impacted Robert E. Lee Street residents and property owners:
- Property or business owners located on, or any individuals who live on, Robert E. Lee Street as of the effective date of the change are eligible to be reimbursed by the City for any costs directly associated with address changes related to renaming Robert E. Lee Street. The reimbursement will not include any cost for time spent making changes.
- City staff will be available to assist residents with any changes, as needed.
- As outlined later in this report, there are also several changes and notifications which the City is making on behalf of residents to reduce the time spent by impacted individuals.
- For reimbursement, affected individuals will need to complete a simple City request form along with receipts or other documentation to the City.
- The forms will be available in paper form for those who prefer to mail hard copies, as well as web forms, through which they can attach scanned receipts and submit reimbursement requests electronically.
- The City standard will be for residents to be reimbursed for eligible costs within three weeks of the City receiving the request.
- There is no time limit for impacted residents to submit for or receive reimbursement of eligible costs.
- There is also no limit to the number of times an impacted resident can submit for and receive reimbursement if all reimbursements are for different eligible costs.
The Planning and Development Department (PDD) will work with the Finance Department to process reimbursements. If for any reason a resident or property owner is denied reimbursement, the decision may be appealed to the City Manager representative within the Planning and Development Department. Staff has created a working draft of a form that residents would use to request reimbursement (Attachment F). When finalized, this will be adapted as an online form for those residents that wish to submit request forms and receipts electronically.
City Staff Updating Responsibilities
Should the Council approve a new street name, city staff will send official notification of the name change to an extensive list of agencies so they can update customer addresses in their respective systems. City staff is currently in communication with the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office, which will work with the City to record a street name change notification for purposes of deed, deed of trust and voter registration records for impacted residents and property owners. PDD staff will formally notify these City departments: Police, Fire, City Clerk, Finance, Law, Neighborhood Services, Street Transportation, and Water Services. PDD staff also will complete an important notification to the United States Postal Service (USPS). At staff request, the USPS will create a "change alias" in their computer system that ties any new street name for each property to the old street name. Thus, any mail addressed using an old street name will automatically be re-routed to the address with the new name. These change aliases do not expire and will ensure mail sent through USPS will be re-routed indefinitely. All property address numbers will remain unchanged.
Planning and Development Department staff will also send official street name change notifications to the Maricopa County Assessor's Office, Arizona Public Service, Salt River Project, Southwest Gas, Cox Communications, CenturyLink, Federal Express, United Parcel Service (UPS), as well as private mapping services including Google, Bing, Yahoo, MapQuest and Wide World of Maps.
If the Council approves renaming Robert E. Lee Street, staff will send via certified mail a third set of documents to residents and property owners that includes a formal letter of approval, a copy of the recorded ordinance, and a completed address change notification. Residents can keep these documents in their records should they need to document or show proof of the street name change for any reason in the future.
Resident Assistance
Phoenix Public Library staff will continue to be available to directly assist impacted residents. Staff researched address update processes for multiple agencies to assist residential property owners, rental residents and business owners. Library staff created quick reference lists, complete with hyperlinks, on the street renaming webpage for updating addresses with the MVD, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Maricopa County Recorder - Voter Registration and Property Deed/Title, the Social Security Administration and Department of Veterans Affairs. The online guide also has suggestions for updating addresses with insurance companies; cell phone providers; employers; banks, credit reporting bureaus and other financial institutions; schools and childcare providers and online shopping sites. The resource guide for business owners includes quick reference address update links for the IRS, Arizona Department of Revenue, Arizona Secretary of State, Arizona Corporation Commission and business credit reporting agencies. It adds suggestions for updating addresses with customers; banks and other financial institutions; and on websites, social media and other online local search tools. Residents that need or prefer live assistance can speak by phone to Library staff during normal library hours.
Timing of Change
If the City Council approves a new name at the Sept. 16 Formal Meeting, staff recommends that the effective date of a new street name be no earlier than Jan. 11, 2021. This will ensure sufficient time to process changes and avoid any address uncertainty during the upcoming election and holidays.
Financial Impact
The Street Transportation Department estimates a total cost of $3,200 to fabricate and install new signs on Robert E. Lee Street; the department will use existing fiscal year budgeted funds to cover this cost. Staff estimates approximately $24,000 is needed to cover costs to reimburse residents and property owners for direct expenses incurred related to changing their address. These funds will be allocated to the Planning and Development Department from the General Fund.
Location
Robert E. Lee Street
Council District: 2
Responsible Departments
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Mario Paniagua; the Planning and Development, Street Transportation, Finance, and Budget and Research departments; and the Phoenix Public Library.