Staff received a petition requesting that Catherine Avenue be renamed Dalton’s Way from 9762 Catherine Avenue to 9972 Catherine Avenue.  The proposed street name is in recognition of former City Council Member and Mayor William J. Dalton.  Mr. Dalton has been a resident of Garden Grove for nearly 50 years and has devoted almost 40 years to the City as both a police officer and an elected official.  Mr. Dalton has resided on Catherine Avenue for nearly 50 years and there are seven additional family members that currently live or own property on Catherine Avenue.

The subject area affects 23 homes and one elementary school.  The petition contained signatures from 12 of the homeowners.  Staff discussed this with Robert Dalton who requested the street name change, and he stated that some homes were currently vacant and other homes were owned by the Dalton family.  

Government Code section 34091.1 requires a resolution of the City Council to change the name of a City street.  Before the City Council adopts a resolution, section 11.28.020 of the Garden Grove Municipal Code requires that the Planning Commission hold a Public Hearing and make a recommendation to the City Council. The Planning Commission adopted Resolution No. 5871-16 at their meeting on November 3, 2016, recommending the street name change to City Council with Commissioners Barker, Kanzler, O'Neill, and Zamora voting to approve and Commissioners Margolin, Nuygen and Parades absent.

The Planning Commission also modified the requested street name from Dalton’s Way to William Dalton Way.  There were a few residents that expressed dissent to the street name change because of the inconvenience of having to change their address on legal documents and concerns of mail delivery.

It is recommended that the City Council:

• Consider a request to change the street name from 9762 to 9972 Catherine Avenue to William Dalton Way.

• Consider adoption of the attached Resolution approving the street name change.

By:     Dai C. Vu, P.E., Associate Engineer