HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 06-16-2011 - 1ORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: June 16, 2011
Action Agenda
Item No. 1
SUBJECT: Review of Proposed Draft Orange County Addressing and- Road Naming
Ordinance
DEPARTMENT: Information Technologies (IT)
PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N)
No
ATTACHMENT(S):
Draft Copy of Proposed Orange County
Addressing and Road Naming
Ordinance
INFORMATION CONTACT:
Steve Averett, 245-2501
PURPOSE: To review the proposed draft Orange County Addressing and Road Naming
Ordinance and provide feedback and direction to staff for refinement.
BACKGROUND: In November 2010, Orange County staff was directed by the BOCC to
continue development of an addressing ordinance. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) staff
and County legal staff have since worked together to create a draft ordinance that wiN allow
Orange- County to formalize its addressing rules and procedures to ensure the most efficient
delivery of emergency services.
On April 27, 2011, County staff met with staff from the towns of Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and
Hillsborough, as well as UNC, to present the draft ordinance and propose a partnership that
would allow all of Orange County's addressing jurisdictions to adopt and enforce a single,
unified ordinance. The City of Mebane declined participation. Initial feedback from staff at the
participating municipalities and UNC was positive. The staff members did, however, have
concerns regarding the enforcement of a newly adopted- ordinance and the resources required
to do so.
Orange County staff from IT, Planning, Emergency Services, Tax, and the Attorney's office met
on May 2, 2011 to discuss the specifics of the proposed ordinance and begin the development
of an enforcement model. This process will continue following BOCC feedback and further
direction regarding the specific rules to be enforced.
On May 4, 2011, County staff met with the Orange County Council of Fire Chiefs to receive
input on the draft ordinance which had been previously provided to them. The Council provided
valuable feedback that has since been evaluated and partially included in a revised draft. At the
meeting on May 4, all the attending fire chiefs were generally supportive- of the need for an
addressing ordinance.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with reviewing and providing
feedback on the draft Addressing and Road Naming Ordinance.
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board review the proposed draft
Orange County Addressing and Road Naming Ordinance and provide feedback and direction to
staff.
oRD-dolt-oao 3
AN ORDINANCE TO ASSIGN AND REGULATE
ROAD NAMES, HOUSE AND BUILDING NUMBERS IN ORANGE COUNTY
ARTICLE I. IN GENERAL
A. Title. The name of this ordinance is "An Ordinance to Assign and Regulate Road
Names, House and Building Numbers in Orange County" and may be cited as the "Road
Naming and Addressing Ordinance" (hereinafter referred to as the "Ordinance").
B. Authority. This Ordinance is hereby adopted under the authority and provisions of
General Statutes of North Carolina Chapter 153A-23R and 1>3~~-239.1(a) and 147-54.7,
and the police powers of the county to protect the hrilth_ safety and welfare of its
citizens.
C. Jurisdictional Coverage. All public and private roads in the unincorporated portions of
the county are included within the jurisdiction of this ordinance, unless the muunicipalities
within the County elect to be covered by the Ordinance. Every addressable structure
within the County's planning jurisdiction shall be included within the jurisdiction of this
ordinance. The municipalities w`itl~in the County may maintain any current or future road
names in unincorporated areas included within their extraterritorial jurisdiction as they
are approved and filed into public reccirds.
D. Purpose and Intent. The purpose and intent of this ~~rticle is to hereby establish a uniform
system of addressing and numbering ali lwuses and buildings within the jurisdiction of
the county, and to establish a process for changing existing addresses, streets and road
names so that street, road, and highway names are not duplicated in the county. The
ordinance provides a method to correct inaccurate addresses, ensure that road name
identification signs are placed at all road intersections, establish a procedure for
revie«-in~~ road names and provide an enforcement mechanism to ensure compliance with
the uniform systet--~ of addressing and numbering.. This ordinance is necessary to
facilitate the provision of adequate public safety and emergency services and to minimize
the difficulty in locating properties and buildings for postal delivery, public service
agencies, and the general. public.
E. Delegatiun of Auth~~rit . The Orange County Board of County Commissioners hereby
delegates tht overall. authority and responsibility for the addressing and naming of public
and private roads. as directed by the provisions of this Ordinance, to the County Manager
or his/her designee as the Address Administrator. This includes any authorized staff
representative acting on behalf of the County Manager or his/her designee.
F. Definitions. The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall
have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly
indicates a different meaning:
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1. Address Administrator or Administrator. The official designated by the County
Manager to administer this Article, including his/her authorized representatives.
2. Addressable Structure. Any structure requiring the installation of a dedicated,
permanent electrical meter or that serves as a utility route management location.
This includes but is not limited to out-buildings, wells, phone junction boxes,
cable junction boxes, and electrical substations.
Apartment Building. A single building comprised of three or more dwelling units
used as rental property. ~~a.
4. Building. A structure having a roof supported 1»r columns or walls for the shelter
of persons or property, for residential, business, institutional, agricultural, or
industrial use. When separated by division v~ ails from the ground up without
openings, each such enclosure shall be deemed a separate building. This includes
designed structures that are used as a dwelling, with or without a permanent
foundation, when connected to the required utilities, and include: the plumbing,
heating, air conditioning, and electrical systems contained therein.
5. Condominium. A buildin<~ in which each individual unit is held in separate private
ownership and all floor space, i~icilities and outdoor areas used in common by all
tenants are owned, administered and zrzaintained by a corporation created pursuant
to the provisions of the appropriate statute.
6. Developer. Any person undertaking any deg elupments as defined in the Orange
County Subdivision Ordinance.
7. Driveway. A private way or road bt gi razing at the property line of a lot abutting a
public road, private road, easement or private right-of--way that will give access
from pulllic road, recorded easement, recorded private road or private right-of-
way, and saves not more than two structures.
S. Duplex Residence. A building that is divided into two dwelling units each of
~~~hich has an ind~;pendent entrance either directly or through a common vestibule.
9. Habitable Structure. Any structure suitable for human habitation including, but
not limited to, residential homes and commercial/industrial/institutional structures
that co»sslently serve employees, customers, or students.
10. Master Street Address Guide (MSAG). Consists of the road name, addresses and
emergency providers for that range.
11. Mobile Home /Manufactured Home. A detached residential dwelling unit
designed, after fabrication, for transportation on streets or highways on its own
wheels or on flatbed or other trailers, and arriving on the site where it is to be
occupied as a dwelling, complete and ready for occupancy except for minor and
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incidental unpacking and assembly operations, location on jacks or other
temporary or permanent foundations.
12. Multiple Dwelling Unit. A building used or capable of being used for residential
purposed wherein more than two separate and distinct places of habitation exist.
13. Office Building. A single building comprised of three or more office units used as
individual businesses.
14. Public Road. Any road, street, highway, thoroughfare, or other way of passage
that has .been irrevocable dedicated to the public or in which the public has
acquired rights by prescription, without regard to whether it is open for travel.
15. Private Road. Any one-way or two-way road for ingress and/or egress not for use
by the public that serves three or more stn,ctures.
16. Single Family Residence. A dwelling meant for occupancy by a single family.
17. Strip Commercial Building. A single building ~~ ith multiple accesses that is leased
by square footage and allows interior businesses to vary in size.
18. Road Address. The combination of numbers and read names assigned by Orange
County that identifies a particular building or lot.
19. Subdivision 1Zoad..~ny dedicated and accepted public right-of--way for vehicular
traffic, ur ~L private' road, either of which were established pursuant to the Orange
Coupt~r Subdivision Ordinance.
20. Townhouse.~:A"{~uil~~ing thatis comprised of more than one unit. Each unit being
a narrow, two store ~~ith its own entrance. A townhouse may be part of an
apartment building or a condominium.
ARTICLE II ADDRESS ADMINIST1tATOR RESPONSIBILITIES
A. Responsibilities. The Address Administrator shall be responsible for the interpretation
and administration of this ordinance, including, but not limited to:
1. Maintaining a system and assigning all numbers for addressable structures;
2. Approval of change of existing addresses when necessary to facilitate sequential
house number assignments along existing roads;
3. Insuring that all roads which require naming have road identifications signs, that all
signs are uniform in construction, that all signs are placed at proper locations and
properly installed, and that all signs that are either destroyed or lost are replaced in a
timely manner;
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4. Establishment of interdepartmental infrastructure to insure continued operation of
addressing system to meet the spirit and the intent of this ordinance;
5. Notification to appropriate citizens, governments, agencies, and post offices as
required by law; and
B. Clerical or Administrative Errors. The Address Administrator is authorized to correct
such clerical or administrative errors that may from time to tune occur in keeping with
the overall plan and the intent of this ordinance and to appro~-elternate methods of
displaying house numbers which meet the intent of this c,rdinance when strict adherence
to these standards cannot be reasonable met.
ARTICLE IV ROAD NAMING
Roads located within the unincorporated areas of Orange County, whether public and private,
shall not be named or renamed by any method except those set forth in this Article. :'111 existing,
proposed, or constructed public or private roads or driveways that provides, or will provide,
access to two (2) or more habitable structures that are more than seventy-five feet from the main
road shall have a street name assigned.
A. Road Names
1. New Road Names.
a. No new public or private road shall be named without approval of the
Address Administrator.
b. The name of any new road, whether it is public or private, shall not
duplicate or be phonetically similar to any other road already named
~~-thin Orange County. This subsection shall not apply to the extension of
existing roads, which should whenever possible be given the same name.
c. New subdivision roads, whether public or private, shall be named prior to
the zppi•oval of any proposed subdivision or plat.
2. Renanliu~ lZoads.
a. Renaming by Address Administrator. Road names may be changed by the
Address Administrator when the road name is a duplicate of another road
name within a designated postal area or within Orange County and
interferes with the accurate dispatch of emergency service or postal
delivery. In addition, a road name may be changed when one road has two
commonly used names or where portions of what appears to be the same
road has two or more names.
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b. Renaming Request by Property Owners. Property owners who want to
have the name of a public or private road changed for personal reasons
must comply with the following:
i. A petition should include the existing road name, the proposed
road name and the reason why the person(s) are requesting the
name change, the signatures of 75% of those persons owning
property adjacent to the road and 75% of road frontage.
ii. Name changes requests shall conform to article IV, Section B.
iii. The name change request shall onl}~ be approved after a public
hearing is held on the matter as provided in Article IV and the
Board of County Commissioners have approved the petition for
a road name change. The Petitioners shall be ~~equired to pay to
Orange County the cost of purchasing new sins artd erecting
them prior to the name change becoming effective.
3. Multifamily Dwelling, Apartment Complexes, Townhouses; and Condominium
Development Road Nantes. A road with one name shall serve all multifamily
dwelling complexes, including apartment complexes, townhouses and
condominium developments, and other similar uses unless the administrator finds
that, in the interest of the public sul'ct~°, the naming of more than one street in or
near the development is warranted.
4. Reserving a Road Name for a New Development. Road names for new
developments may be reserved upon written request to the Address Administrator
for up to one year. If the requirements to finalize the road name are not satisfied
within one year from the date of approval, upon written request an extension of
one year may be granted. If such extension is not received, the road name may no
longer be reserved.
5. Limitation. In naming or renaming a public road, the county may not change the
name of any road name designation provided by the North Carolina Board of
Transportation or the Orange County Board of County Commissioners unless the
respective body agrees to such change. Numbers assigned to a road by the North
Carolina Board of Transportation shall not be changed; however, the Board of
County Commissioners may name the road in addition to the number given to it
by the North Carolina Board of Transportation.
B. Content of Road Names
1. Road names must use common spelling found in a standard dictionary.
2. North, South, East and West are intended to be directional features of the address
system and will be used only when necessary, such as for distinguishing regions
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of a continuous road traversing several municipalities. A directional word should
not be contained within the name of a new road and shall be placed ahead of the
road name. A street or road may have no more than one directional prefix.
3. Only letters of the alphabet and blank spaces should be included in a road name.
Road names that are numbers (i.e. First Street) must be expressed using
alphabetical characters and not numbers. Road names should not contain the
following:
a. Symbols or punctuation;
b. Abbreviations of the main title of the street or road name;
c. Initials;
d. A single alphabetical character;
e. Words that begin with "old" or "news;"
f. Offensive words or language in accordarire ~~ ith G.S. 147-54.7; or
g. More than 201etters including spaces.
4. All road names shall contain a road name suffix designation. Suffix designations
of roads include, bt~t are not limited to, the following terms: avenue, boulevard,
court, circle. lane,. parkway, place, road, street, trail or way. All street suffix
designations nrl~ be abbreviated in compliance with National Emergency
Number Ass~~ciatiun(NF,NA) Addressing Standards.
C. Physical Standards for Road Name Signs
1. Signs for public or pri~late roads or drives shall conform with the physical
standards set forth in the United States Department of Transportation's Manual on
Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD).
ARTICLE III ADDRESSING
A. Use of assigned number required. No person may display or cause to be displayed
on any house, building or box any number other than the number assigned by the
Address Administrator.
B. Removal, obliteration and destruction prohibited. No person may remove, obliterate
or destroy any number displayed in accordance with this Ordinance.
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C. Road Address Number Assignment. The administrator shall assign house and
building road address numbers in accordance with a system that adheres as closely as
possible to the principles set forth in this section. However, matters of interpretation
of the assignment of road address numbers shall be in the sound discretion of the
address administrator.
D. Methodolo~y. The methodology used to determine the assignment of house and
building address numbers shall be:
The County shall be divided by two axes. The north-south •a~is shall be NC 86 N
(New Highway 86 from the Caswell County line to I-S~, Old NC 86 from I-85 to
Calvander). The east-west axis shall be St. ~1arJ's P.oad (from the Durham
County line to US 70) and a continuance of US 7(} from that intersection
westward to the Alamance County line.
2. Directionality of the road of origin used to determine "right" and "left" shall be
determined as one travels away from the intersection of the aforementioned axis.
3. Addresses shall be assigned at either the federal standard of 5.82 feet or twenty
feet intervals along thr length of the road as determined by the Address
Administrator.. The intent of this practice is to ensure there are available
addresses between addressahlc structures that can be assigned at a later date.
4. The range of addresses shall hr`~in with the lo«est number in the range being
closest to the road of origin with the numbers increasing as the distance from the
road of origin increases. If the road to be addressed does not have an immediately
discernable origin but connects twa reads, the road closest to the intersection of
the aforementioned axis shall be deemed the road of origin.
~. For all ilt:ty roads, addresses shall be assigned along roads with odd numbers on
the left and even numbers on the right.
6. Address ranks for new roads in a subdivision will begin with either even or odd
iaitegers but nit both. If a right turn must be taken to enter the subdivision from
the road of ori~i~7, all address ranges will begin with an even integer. If a left turn
must he taken to enter the subdivision from the road of origin, all address ranges
shall begin ~ti ith an odd integer.
E. Display of Road Address Numbers. Once assigned, road address numbers must be
clearly displayed so the location can be easily identified from the road.
The official address number must be displayed on the front of a building
or at the entrance to a building, which is most clearly visible from the
street or road during both day and night.
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2. If a building is more than seventy-five feet from any road, the address
number shall be displayed at the end of the driveway or easement
nearest the road, which provides access to the building.
3. Numerals indicating the address number of asingle-family dwelling
shall be at least three inches in height and shall be posted and maintained
so as to be legible from the road from both directions of travel.
4. Numerals for buildings with multiple dwellinb units and nonresidential
buildings shall be at least six inches in height acid: mall be placed on the
front of the building facing the road or on tltt and of the building nearest
the road.
5. Mobile home lots shall have address numbers assigned to each lot
throughout the park. The address number of each lot must be clearly
displayed on the lot so as to be legible from the road rather than
mounted on the mobile home unit.
6. All numerals must be made of durable, clearly visible material and must
contrast with the color to the background.
7. The Address Administrator shall have the right to authorize and approve
alternate methods of displa~~in~ house numbers, which meet the intent of
this article when strict adherence cif these standards cannot reasonable be
rriet.
F. AddresCorrections. "I'he Address ~~nnistrator is authorized to correct any errors
in a numeric address or street name. 'l h~ .F,ddress Administrator shall provide written
notice to the o~~~1er br certified zllail ~~-Bich shall include the reason for the error, the
new numeric address and that. the Address change will be effective sixty (60) days
from receipt of the notice. A resident who does not display the new address after the
effective date shall be in ciolat~on of this Ordinance.
IV. PUBLIC HEARING AND NOTICE REQUIRED
A. Naming or Renaming Roads. Prior to naming or renaming a road, the Address
Administrator shall request a public hearing date be set by the Orange County Board
of County Commissioners and provide notice in accordance with G.S. 153A-
239.1(a), except an initial name for a new road that has been approved by the
address administrator may be assigned without a public hearing if recorded in the
Register of Deeds Office on an approved subdivision plat.
B. Adoption of Ordinance. Prior to adopting an ordinance to establish a procedure to
assign or reassign street numbers on the road, the Board of County Commissioners
shall provide notice and hold a public hearing in accordance with G.S. 153A-
239.1(a).
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C. Notice. After naming or renaming a public or private road, or assigning or
reassigning street numbers on a public or private road, the Address Administrator
shall provide notice to be given to the local postmaster with jurisdiction over the
road, to the North Carolina Board of Transportation and any city within five miles of
the road.
V. PENALTY
A. Structures Re uiring a Certificate of Occupancy The certificate of occupancy for
any structure erected, repaired or modified after the effective date of this Ordinance
shall be withheld by the Orange County Building and Inspections Department until
the address is posted correctly on the structure as outlined in this Ordinance.
B. Existing Structures. If an existing house or building is not in compliance with this
Ordinance, the County shall provide a written notice to any owner or occupant that
the address is not in compliance with this Ordinance and specifying that within thirty
days they must come into compliance ~~~ith the Ord i n~lce.
1. If the owner or occupant fails to com.; into c~~inpliance within thirty days, they
will be in violation of the Ordinance.
2. Notice under this article is sufficient and proper if reasonable calculated to
give actual or constructive notice. Means of notice deemed sufficient and
proper include but are not limited to first class mail sent to the last known
address of an owwner or occupant as ascertained from the County's tax listing,
posting can the front door of the affected building, or hand delivery to an
~cupant of lcgalage found at the affected building.
C. Other Penalties. In addition ttnd ind~ndent of any criminal penalties and sanction
provided in this Ordinance, if~~ otiuner or occupant does not come into compliance
with this Ordinance after proper notice and thirty days has elapsed, the County
Attorney may enforce this article by any one or more of the remedies authorized by
G.S. 153A-123.
D. Criminal Penalties. The violation of any provision of this Ordinance shall be a
misdemeanor and any person convicted of such violation shall be punishable as a
Class 3 misdemeanor and subject to a fine of $500, as provided in North Carolina
General Statute § 14-4 or other applicable law. Each day's violation of this Ordinance
is a separate offense. Payment of a fine imposed in criminal proceedings pursuant to
this subsection does not relieve a person of their liability for any other fees, fines or
civil penalties imposed under this Ordinance.
VI. SEVERABILITY
If any provision of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by any
court of competent jurisdiction, such provision shall be deemed a separate, independent
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provision and such holding shall not affect the validity of any other provision hereof, and to that
end, the provisions of this Ordinance are declared to be severable.
VII. EFFECTIVE DATE
This Ordinance shall be effective on the _ day of , 20
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