Trophy Club councilors and staff on Sept. 8 reviewed a draft policy to govern how the town names or renames facilities, parks and other public places and agreed to send recommendations to town management for a formal ordinance. “We will not be taking action tonight, but we will be giving recommendations to our town management to, again, bring forth an ordinance,” Mayor Tiffany said at the start of the workshop. Brandon Wright, the staff presenter, told the council the draft is intended to create “a uniform set of procedures that really are in place to help us name town facilities or rename town facilities.”

Councilors discussed several decision points the draft policy covers: how often the council should review naming requests; whether living people may be honored; criteria for what constitutes an “exceptional individual;” thresholds of public support for petitions; how to treat street names versus honorary street placards; and whether donors must pay part of renaming costs. “One of the decision points is how many times a year do you think the council should be considering names or renaming,” Wright said, adding the draft proposes a single annual window but is open for change.

The draft would reserve final authority to the Town Council, exclude initial subdivision street naming from this process, and limit renaming of already-named facilities to “exceptional circumstances,” which the draft lists as honoring an exceptional individual or revoking a name that no longer represents town values. Wright said the draft also proposes that, generally, individuals must be deceased to be eligible and that the town should avoid naming major facilities after individuals in favor of theme-based names such as Harmony Park or Freedom Park.

Council members pressed for clearer definitions and thresholds. Council Member Sheridan asked for specific guidelines to define an “exceptional individual,” and several councilors debated whether first responders and military service should automatically qualify; the council agreed to include military and first-responder service as traits to consider. On residency, the council discussed whether honorees must be current residents; the presenter said the policy is intended as guidance and not an absolute.

Petition thresholds and classification of projects drew extended debate. For honorary street names the council favored placing a placard under the official sign without changing legal addresses. The council settled on a 50% threshold of property owner support for honorary street names and agreed to exclude major thoroughfares such as Indian Creek Drive, Trophy Club Drive and Bobcat Boulevard from street-renaming petitions (they could still receive honorary plaques). For naming an entire major facility (parks or buildings), council members proposed higher petition requirements; after discussion they landed on a working threshold of 250 verified property-owner signatures for a major facility and 125 for a minor facility, with the option for council members to sponsor items with a lower threshold if two council members supported it.

On donor recognition, councilors discussed adding a definition for “major gifts” to specify how much of a capital cost a donor must contribute to qualify for naming recognition; the group suggested a target range between 60% and 75% but did not fix a final number and asked staff to return with concrete language. Wright noted the draft does not currently require applicants to cover municipal costs for sign replacement but said the council could add a requirement for applicants to share or pay costs for substantial changes.

Several councilors also suggested a separate, simpler policy for memorial plaques and recognition monuments to honor long-term volunteers and contributors without renaming a facility; the council agreed that memorial plaques are a distinct process and could be considered separately or added as an appendix to the naming policy.

No ordinance vote was taken at the workshop. Councilors asked staff to refine the draft—clarifying definitions (exceptional individual, major gift percentage), petition and residency rules, and the process for board review—and to return an ordinance for formal consideration and vote at a future meeting.