Council pulls proposed Aviator Avenue renaming for further review after request to honor mayor

City staff asked the Manassas City Council on Oct. 20 to approve a street-name assignment that would rename a realigned portion of Observation Road and the section it connects to as Aviator Avenue.

The change follows the city—uilding a new roadway to provide access to the western portion of the airport and to raise the alignment out of the floodplain, staff said. Mr. Burke described an aerial view of the construction and told council the realignment creates additional property adjacent to the airport for future development.

The council discussion shifted from the technical description to naming conventions after Council member Vasquez Luna asked council to consider using the street name to honor the city—irst female mayor. "We have to find a way . . . to honor our first female mayor," Vasquez Luna said during the discussion, noting that the airport changes present a meaningful opportunity. Several council members expressed support for honoring the mayor but also raised procedural questions.

Mayor David Shunger and other council members noted the city has a naming policy and cautioned against naming something for a current officeholder without following that policy. Staff confirmed there is an existing city naming policy that could apply and that the airport commission lready vetted several name options and selected Aviator as descriptive and nonpersonal. The airport commission—hair presented Aviator as the most descriptive name.

Following the exchange, Vasquez Luna asked that the item be removed from the consent agenda for fuller review; council and staff agreed they would not place the item on consent so the naming policy and the question of honoring an individual can be reviewed. No formal renaming vote occurred during the meeting.

Council directed staff to bring the item back for further consideration consistent with the city naming policy and to avoid naming a facility after a living elected official without completing the city—stablished review steps.

Staff noted the airport commission had selected Aviator Avenue after a process that considered multiple names; council asked staff to report back on applicable naming rules and any required approvals.

The council did not adopt any ordinance or formal resolution during this session on the renaming; the matter will return for further review per council direction.