California Surveyors Forums

A resident has requested that an alley be re-classified as a street (he wants to name it…, and we don't "name" alleys). When we approached our City Attorney about the steps needed to make this change, we were informed that the subdivision map (recorded in 1952) would have to be amended (a certificate of correction??). I looked over Section 66469 of the SMA but I don’t see any purposes that cover this situation. Are we barking up the wrong tree here??

The alley in question is wider than our maximum width for alleys, so it could be re-classified.

Has anyone ever dealt with changing the classification of an alley to a street (or vice versa), and can share the steps, or point me in the right direction to research this?

Thanks,

Bill A'Hearn, LSIT – GIS Analyst
City of Glendale

If the alley is a dedicated public ROW and accepted by the city then I don't see any significance to the distinction.

It's all the same to me from a survey standpoint. If the alley is privately owned or maintained then you may need to have it formally accepted by the City but it is possibly not a survey problem

Just name it. All the alleys in Pasadena have names.
Have him/her pay for the street sign people to craft a sign and put it up on a post.
But he/she probably doesn't want to pay for anything I'll bet.
The Thomas Guide people may even note it someday.

The City of San Diego regularly names alleys. Throughout La Jolla, is is pretty standard. In the commercial areas with multiple businesses on a lot, they fight for their own address and the try to marker it as something.

When many cities were developed, most of the early maps used the alpha numeric system All east to west were A, B, C, etc and north to south 1, 2, 3., etc. I think in San Diego there were some 30 maps filed with all the same designations.

This is not a map act issue.

The only requirement I am aware of is to make sure the fir department is not confused (for obvious reasons).

https://thedanielsgroup.com/scoop-la-jo ... reet-names

https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/198 ... arma-lane/

https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2009/sep/16/cover/

Your city attorney is mis-informed, or perhaps uninformed on this issue. As Mr. Pallamary noted, and as we all have no doubt seen many times, many current names of streets and alleys are not the same as their original names - they have simply been re-named one or more times over the years through appropriate city processes. Of these processes, I know not much, but I do know that they have nothing to do with "correcting" old subdivision maps every time a street is re-named.

This is not a surveying, map act, or C/O/C task - it is a separate process entirely, and it looks like your job will be to find someone at your city who can help you out, assuming such a person exists. There must be one Street in your city that has been re-named... There is nothing wrong with that old map, and the world will not stop turning if the new street name does not match the old map - we can't go back in time to revise all old documents every time a street name changes.

This sort of questions arises from time to time where folks think to effect some change they must go back in time to change old documents, rather than moving forward in time to create the new appropriate documents. I am thinking of requests to "re-do" old lot line adjustments to change a line, or file Cert.'s of Correction to change old APN's on maps, since the APN's have changed now, the like.

Good luck!

One of the easiest examples I can think of to help convince the city attorney his/her thinking is off is to find a Martin Luther king drive.... most cities have a street named such... most likely the street name changed in the 70s 80s or 90s from the original map which creating said street. They didn't go to original map and do a cert of correction etc as stated by Elias.

Any new survey maps of the area and most likely the APN Map would/should state __yyy_ street (formally __zzz_ alley).

Good luck

Good example - see link for sample process in San Francusco, for reference. http://www.sfpublicworks.org/services/e ... reet-names

Let us know how you make out!

How wide is the alley? Per the CA Vehicle Code Section 110: “Alley” is any highway having a roadway not exceeding 25 feet in width which is primarily used for access to the rear or side entrances of abutting property; provided, that the City and County of San Francisco may designate by ordinance or resolution as an “alley” any highway having a roadway not exceeding 25 feet in width.