Street Naming and Name Change Process.

Dallas City Code ch. 51A, art. IX, div. 51A-9.300

in effect

Dallas City Code § 51A-9.301 DEFINITIONS.

SEC. 51A-9.301. DEFINITIONS. In this division: (1) DIRECTIONAL PREFIX means an indicator of the direction a roadway passes from an official base line established pursuant to Article V, “Building Numbering,” of Chapter 43, “Streets and Sidewalks,” of the Dallas City Code, as amended. For example, in the street name “North Franklin Road,” North is the directional prefix. (2) DIRECTIONAL SUFFIX means an indicator of address location. For example, in the address “137 Franklin Road W,” W is the directional suffix. (3) FUNCTIONAL CLASSIFICATION means the systematic classification of roadways in categories according to their access and movement attributes. Minor streets, residential and community collectors, minor and principal arterials, and freeways and expressways are functional classifications of roadways. Minor streets usually provide access to individual lots. Collector streets provide access between the minor streets and arterials. Arterials link areas of the city and carry traffic to freeways and expressways, which primarily provide movement to locations throughout the region. (4) HISTORIC STREET NAME means a street name that commemorates: (A) a person who significantly contributed to the cultural, economic, social, religious, or political heritage of the city; (B) a site or area where there occurred historic events which significantly contributed to the cultural, economic, social, religious, or political heritage of the city; or (C) a person or family founding or traditionally associated with the area where the street is located. (5) LABEL means the portion of a street name that attaches a creative identity to a roadway. For example, in the street name “Franklin Road,” Franklin is the label. (6) Reserved. (7) MAJOR ROADWAY means a roadway on the city’s thoroughfare plan. (8) MINOR ROADWAY means a roadway not on the city’s thoroughfare plan. (9) ROADWAY means any official vehicular course for travel, regardless of length or service characteristics. (10) STREET NAME means the street label together with the street-type designation, but does not include a directional prefix or suffix. For example, in the street identified as “North Franklin Road,” Franklin Road is the street name. (11) TYPE means the portion of a street name that identifies the kind of roadway, but does not necessarily attach a functional classification. For example, in the street name “Franklin Road,” Road is the type. (Ord. Nos. 19832; 21186; 22224)

Dallas City Code § 51A-9.302 GENERAL PROVISIONS.

SEC. 51A-9.302. GENERAL PROVISIONS. (a) Only public street names may be changed by the process contained in this division. (b) A street name change application may be initiated only by: (1) an owner of property abutting the street; (2) the director of the department if necessary to address public safety concerns; (3) a city council member with concurrence by two other city council members; or (4) the city plan commission by majority vote. (c) The definitions and standards in this division apply to both original street naming and street name changes. Applicable procedures for assigning original street names are contained in Article VIII, “Plat Regulations.” (Ord. Nos. 19832; 22224; 25047; 28073)

Dallas City Code § 51A-9.303 APPLICATION.

SEC. 51A-9.303. APPLICATION. An application for a street name change must be filed with the department on an application form furnished by that department. The application must include the following: (1) The application fee. The city council may waive the application fee if the city council finds that payment of the fee would result in substantial financial hardship to the applicant. (2) A statement of the reasons supporting a street name change. (3) The existing and proposed street names. (4) The roadway’s status as a major roadway or a minor roadway. (5) For all applications except those made by the director, a city council member, or the city plan commission, a petition indicating that at least 51 percent of the owners of all lots abutting the street favor the name change. (6) A site plan showing the location of the street. (Ord. Nos. 19832; 22224; 25047; 28073)

Dallas City Code § 51A-9.304 STANDARDS FOR STREET NAMES AND STREET NAME CHANGES.

SEC. 51A-9.304. STANDARDS FOR STREET NAMES AND STREET NAME CHANGES. (a) In general. (1) A proposed label in a street name may not duplicate any existing label. (2) A proposed street name may not be similar to an existing street name so that it creates confusion or an obstacle to the provision of emergency services. (3) If all of the standards in this section are met, a roadway that extends into the city of Dallas from a contiguous municipality must adopt the street name given the street by the contiguous municipality. (4) A street name that uniquely identifies a particular tract, tenant, or product name is prohibited. (5) A street name may not contain more than 14 characters providing, however, that the street-type designation may be abbreviated to comply with this requirement. (6) Hyphenated and apostrophied street names are prohibited. (b) Number of names for a roadway. (1) Except as provided in Paragraph (2), a roadway must have only one name. (2) Different names must be given to the same roadway under the following conditions: (A) If a minor roadway deviates from its predominant course at a 90 degree angle for a distance of more than 300 feet, a different name must be used for the predominant course and for each portion of the roadway deviating from the predominant course. (B) If two segments of a minor roadway are separated by an intervening land use that prohibits vehicular passage, and if future connections of the street segments through the use is unlikely, the segments of roadway on each side of the intervening use must have different names. (C) If a street is interrupted and offsets more than 150 feet at a cross street, different names must be given to the offset street segments. (c) Historic street names. (1) A historic street name may not be changed. (2) A street name commemorating a person or a historic site or area is prohibited until at least two years after the death of the person to be honored or the occurrence of the event to be commemorated. (d) Street type and label designation. (1) A street name may not contain more than one street-type designation. For example, the street name “John Doe Place Road” is not permitted. (2) The designation of the street type must be based upon the features of the roadway, such as the traffic volumes carried by the roadway, its physical design and construction characteristics, and its role in the surrounding street network. (3) No street name may have more than two labels before the street-type designation. (e) Directional prefix and suffix. (1) A directional prefix is permitted only when the roadway intersects one of the official baselines used by the city. (2) A directional suffix is permitted as an indicator for address location. (f) Guidelines. (1) A street name may be based upon physical, political, or historic features of the area. (2) The name of a subdivision and names thematically related to the name of a subdivision may be given to a street within the subdivision. (g) Waiver. The city council, by a three-fourths vote of its members, may waive any of the standards contained in this section when waiver would be in the public interest and would not impair the public health, safety, or welfare. (Ord. Nos. 19832; 23407)

Dallas City Code § 51A-9.305 REVIEW OF APPLICATION.

SEC. 51A-9.305. REVIEW OF APPLICATION. (a) Within 10 working days after receipt of a complete application for a street name change, the subdivision administrator shall request comment regarding the potential impacts of the name change on the operations of the following departments and other affected entities: (1) Department of transportation and public works. (2) Office of budget and management services. (3) Fire-rescue department. (4) Department of planning and development. (5) Police department. (6) Water utilities department. (7) Department of sanitation services. (8) Department of code compliance. (9) Contiguous municipalities if any property abutting the street is within the contiguous municipality. (10) Dallas County Historical Commission. (11) TXU Electric, or its successor. (12) TXU Gas, or its successor. (13) Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, or its successor. (14) U.S. Postal Service. (b) The subdivision administrator shall formulate a recommendation on the proposed street name change based upon his own review of the application, the standards in Section 51A-9.304, and the comments received from those listed in Subsection (a). The subdivision administrator shall set a date for review of the application before the subdivision review committee of the city plan commission. (c) Notice of the public hearing before the subdivision review committee must be advertised in the official newspaper of the city no fewer than 15 days before the date of the hearing. The subdivision administrator must also send written notice of the public hearing to abutting property owners as ownership appears on the last approved ad valorem tax roll no fewer than 15 days before the date of the hearing. Notification signs must be posted along the street for no fewer than 15 days before the date of the hearing. (d) The subdivision review committee shall formulate a recommendation based upon their review of the application, the standards contained in Section 51A-9.304, and the recommendation of the subdivision administrator. (Ord. Nos. 19832; 22026; 23694; 24410; 24843; 25047; 27204; 28073; 28424; 30239; 30654; 31658; 32002; 32760; 32864)

Dallas City Code § 51A-9.306 HEARING BEFORE THE CITY PLAN COMMISSION.

SEC. 51A-9.306. HEARING BEFORE THE CITY PLAN COMMISSION. (a) After review of the application by the subdivision review committee, the subdivision administrator shall set the application for hearing by the city plan commission. (b) Notice of the public hearing before the city plan commission must be advertised in the official newspaper of the city no fewer than 30 days before the date of the hearing. The subdivision administrator must also send written notice of the public hearing to abutting property owners as ownership appears on the last approved ad valorem tax roll no fewer than 30 days before the date of the hearing. Notification signs must be posted along the street for no fewer than 30 days before the date of the hearing. (c) The city plan commission shall make a recommendation to the city council of either approval or denial of the application based upon the testimony presented at the public hearing, the recommendations of the subdivision review committee and the subdivision administrator, and the standards contained in Section 51A-9.304. (Ord. Nos. 19832; 22224; 27204)

Dallas City Code § 51A-9.307 HEARING BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL.

SEC. 51A-9.307. HEARING BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL. (a) If the city plan commission recommends denial of a street name change, the action of the city plan commission is final unless the applicant files a request for appeal to the city council within 10 days of the hearing at which the action was taken. The request for appeal must be in writing and must be submitted to the subdivision administrator. (b) The subdivision administrator shall schedule a city council hearing on all applications for street name change in which the commission recommends approval, and in all applications in which the commission recommends denial if an appeal is requested in accordance with this section. (c) Notice of the public hearing before the city council must be advertised in the official newspaper of the city no fewer than 15 days before the date of the hearing. The subdivision administrator must also send written notice of the public hearing to abutting property owners as ownership appears on the last approved ad valorem tax roll no fewer than 15 days before the date of the hearing. Notification signs must be posted along the street for no fewer than 15 days before the date of the hearing. (d) The favorable vote of three-fourths of all members of the city council is required if: (1) the street name change has been recommended for denial by the city plan commission; or (2) a written protest against the street name change has been signed by the owners of 20 percent of all lots abutting the street. (e) The city council shall either approve or deny the application based upon the testimony presented at the public hearing, the recommendations of the city plan commission, the subdivision review committee, and the subdivision administrator, and the standards contained in Section 51A-9.304. (Ord. Nos. 19832; 20037; 22224; 27204)

Dallas City Code § 51A-9.308 NOTIFICATION OF NAME CHANGE.

SEC. 51A-9.308. NOTIFICATION OF NAME CHANGE. If the request for a name change is approved by the city council, the city secretary shall notify those listed in Section 51A-9.305 and others requesting notification of the name change. The subdivision administrator shall send written notice of the city council’s action to abutting property owners. (Ord. 19832)

Dallas City Code § 51A-9.309 EFFECTIVE DATE OF NAME CHANGE.

SEC. 51A-9.309. EFFECTIVE DATE OF NAME CHANGE. Providing that all required fees have been paid by the applicant, a name change approved by the city council takes effect 60 days after the date of its approval unless city council sets a later effective date. (Ord. Nos. 19832; 27204)

Source: City of Dallas, Dallas City Code and City Charter (American Legal Publishing, codelibrary.amlegal.com)URL: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/dallas/latest/dallas_tx/0-0-0-91501Fetched: 10/26/2026