Steinbach City Council has approved a new honorary street name policy.

Administration brought a draft of the policy before city council at a Strategic Priorities Committee meeting earlier this year. Council then gave feedback which was taken into consideration before the final draft was presented at a public council meeting.

Councillor Michael Zwaagstra moved to approve the policy.

A rendering of Steinbach's honorary street sign topper"This is something that a number of cities do and it provides a way to honour people that have made a significant contribution to the community and, as our policy draft says here, people who have demonstrated excellence, courage, exceptional dedication to service that brings credit to the city and also can be named after former mayors, city councillors, or other political representatives from our city."

Zwaagstra says it is important to note that the legal name of the street will not be changed even if the street is given an honorary name. Rather, an honorary street name sign would sit on top of the existing street sign.

"That way, any businesses and homeowners that are located on that street don't have to go through the expense of changing their address. So, the honorary street name approach is a way of recognizing people and naming a street after them without having to legally change it."

So, how does one go about giving a street an honorary name?

"The policy here as drafted is quite straightforward that any proposal, there has to be an application and it would have to be approved by resolution of city council," notes Zwaagstra.

Council passed the honorary street naming policy unanimously.