The Planning Commission reviewed the first draft of its naming of municipality-owned properties ordinance during its latest meeting.

The commission has been working on this application process since the end of 2025, and the ordinance has come from recent public interest in renaming the Third Avenue bridge.

Commission members reviewed a draft of the ordinance, which is intended to establish a clear, citizen-driven process for assigning names to city-owned properties, trafficways, structures, and public facilities. The document remains under revision following edits discussed at the meeting and is expected to return for consideration and a vote at the commission’s April session.

If approved by the Planning Commission, the ordinance will advance to the Warren City Council for final consideration.

According to the reviewed draft, the proposed ordinance would allow applications from city residents, property owners, and community organizations. Submissions would be required to include an application fee and a petition with signatures from Warren residents and property owners supporting the request.

Under the draft guidelines, the Planning Commission would conduct an initial review of each proposal. Requests involving park properties or facilities would be referred to the city’s Parks, Recreation, and Landscape Commission for additional input before returning to the Planning Commission for a recommendation.

Following that recommendation, a public hearing would be scheduled, accompanied by a three-week public comment period. City Council would then have the authority to accept, modify, or reject the proposal.

The ordinance also outlines several naming criteria. Proposed names must be directly associated with the history of Warren, Warren County, or the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Street and trafficway names must comply with applicable local and state laws. Additionally, naming a property after an individual would only be permitted if that person has been deceased for at least two years.

Further provisions emphasize stability in naming decisions. Once a name is approved, future changes to the same property would be strongly discouraged. Longstanding names, those in use on maps for 50 years or more, would only be altered under exceptional circumstances.

The draft also clarifies that the ordinance would not apply to historically registered properties that already have officially recognized names.

Much of the ordinance was inspired by the procedures followed by other municipalities, such as Pittsburgh and Erie

Another version of the ordinance will be reviewed during the next Planning Commission meeting on April 15.