Geographic Information Systems
Road Naming Principles and Guidelines
A "Road" shall be defined as any open way for vehicles or persons using it as an ingress or agree to a structure or property, either private or public in nature.
Any road serving four or more lots, residences, inhabitable structures or business must have a road name. Staff shall have administrative authority to approve new road names. Staff shall check the requested name against the current Frederick County Road Name list for conflicts and adhere to the following restrictions: No road name shall be abbreviated and must be spelled out completely. No directional names such as north, south, east or west shall be accepted. No road names will be accepted with punctuation. No road name will be accepted with the first word of the name being the same as another road name currently in use. No road name shall be accepted that is spelled the same or phonetically the same as another road currently in use. Road names shall change at major four-way intersections and/or disjointed segments.
When a developer submits a Master Development Plan or Subdivision Plan for small lots, to the Department of Planning and Development for approval, the developer or viewering planner must submit a request to the GIS Staff for review of road names.
Staff will review MDPs or major Subdivision Plans and supply the requesting agent with a road name comment sheet with approval, denial, or other actions taken, with explanation as necessary. New Road Name Created Through Rural or Large Lot Subdivision Not Requiring a MDP.
A road must have four or more lots residences, inhabitable structures or business with legal use and/or right way to the road in question before it can receive a road name.
When a road exceeds the limit of three lots, residences habitable structures or businesses through subdivision, construction, or other development staff will notify the owners of these properties, in writing, of the requirement for a road name and begin the process of assigning a new road to the road in question. The initial notification will include a return form requesting three road names for consideration.
