City council has as a tough - and emotional - decision on its hands.

Family and friends of Devon Allaire-Bell are pleading with council to rename Frank Hurt Park to Devon Allaire-Bell Park, in honour of the slain teen.

They say before the teen's death, the park had become overgrown, what they call a playground for criminals.

Devon's family and friends say renaming the park will not only honour him, it will also let the community "take back the park."

On the surface, this seems like a fantastic way to honour Devon, maybe even a nobrainer for city council.

Indeed, Frank Hurt Park needs to be "taken back," especially considering that Devon's killers allegedly used the overgrown park as an escape route.

And clearly, Devon's family and friends are more than willing to do the hard work it will take to make the park safe again.

This is what Devon's friend Stephanie Rivera told council: "We are not able to get our friend back, but we can take back this park. Devon deserves more than the park being named after him, he deserves justice, but that's what we have to wait for."

Nobody can imagine what Devon's family and friends have been through, and it is admirable that they want to channel their grief into something positive for Surrey.

For that reason, we hope the park is renamed. But we also hope that council is thinking ahead - because there will be similar requests in the future.

In this instance, renaming the park works - for both Devon's family and for the city.

But without clear guidelines of how to handle such sensitive requests, it would be hard - almost impossible - for council to say 'no' to future families of murder victims.