Address Assignments That Make Sense Indiana GIS Conference February 2010

Overview Where to start Existing Processes Getting it to match and work together

Getting Started What is in place that guides or governs how streets are named and addresses assigned? –Departmental procedure? –Ordinance/Law/Code? –Word of mouth? How does this compare with the various national standards such as NENA?

Getting Started The best thing to have is an ordinance that clearly outlines the process from A-Z and clearly defines who does what. –In some jurisdictions addressing regulation is on a county basis –In some jurisdictions address regulation is on a State wide basis –In some jurisdictions addressing regulation is different in each city and township –In some jurisdictions, address just happens

Guiding Documents Define the following issues: –In General Authority Jurisdiction Definitions Administration –New Road Names –Renaming of Roads –Addressing –Enforcement

Examples New Road Names –No new public or private roads shall be named without review and recommendation of the Program Administrator and approval by the Board of Commissioners.

Examples New Road Names –The name of any new road, whether it is public or private, shall not duplicate or be phonetically similar to any other road name already named by this Ordinance. Directional cannot be part of any street or road name (for example, Westover Road or Fossil Creek Drive North are not acceptable). Alternate spelling, homonyms (dear and deer) and corporate or trade names are not acceptable. All road names must use the common spelling as found in a standard dictionary.

Examples New Road Names –Private roads, which require naming to facilitate postal delivery and emergency response, shall be recognized by the county at the request of the Program Administrator or citizens owning property adjacent to the road. Such a road must serve at least three (3) households.

Examples Addressing –Addressing Interval: Structure numbers shall be assigned consecutively so that a new address is created every 25 linear feet. Addresses will be assigned at the point of access (driveway) or to a structure point along the front of the structure. If the driveway enters from the side or rear of the property, the structure shall be addressed on the road that it fronts at the approximate middle of the structure.

Examples Addressing –Even and odd numbering. Even numbered addresses shall be assigned to the left in the direction of increase and odd-numbered addresses shall be assigned to the right in the direction of the increase.

Procedures Standards and procedures are a decision of the local government authority –Look at the various options and experience –Talk to other jurisdictions and see if there is anything they would change and why –Craft a procedure that works for your community

Fitting Pieces Together How does address assignment fit with other areas of government and service provision? –MSAG – Master Street Address Guide Currently drives the delivery of calls to the correct PSAP Addressing – GIS – MSAG must correctly relate to each other

Fitting Pieces Together Who needs notification of new or changed addresses? –Post Office –Utilities –Schools –Assessor/Property Valuation Offices How is notification made and by whom? –Clear process needs to be part of the framework

Conclusion 1 If you do not have a framework to use and you do not know how that framework functions, odds are that addresses you assign won’t make sense.

GIS Influence Geocoding processes in GIS platforms operate on a premise of evenly distributed addresses within a range on the centerline. –Assigning addresses that fit within this process should be strongly considered

The gold lines between the points and centerlines is the optimum geocoding solution. The reddish lines between the points and centerlines are the actual results based on the given ranges.

What fits to what Addresses must fit within the GIS ranges GIS ranges must fit within the MSAG ranges Address |  GIS Range  | |  MSAG Range  |

Applying the Rules New development Sell off of existing property Discovered outliers & other problems

New Developments Look at pre-existing addresses in the surrounding area Address at the development as a whole –Pay special attention to looping streets –Understand how the development will be built –“Lock in” the street names as part of the process for the preliminary plan –Review the overall plan when each section “goes to record” for possible adjustments

Example

Sell Off of Existing Property Look at the pre-existing addresses in the surrounding area What is the “best fit” with respect to the surrounding area and the addressing framework? –May be as simple as measuring and assigning the number –May be complicated to “crowbar” the new address into the existing numbers

Example 4 sell offs needing addresses Existing addresses not based on “mileage” measurement How do you get the best fit?

Example Distance between 1116 and 1320 is 841’ yields 204 possible addresses

Example Distance between 1116 and the 4 new addresses is –180’ = 21% –286’ = 34% –493’ = 58% –673’ = 80%

Example The total possible addresses is 204 –21% of 204 = 42 –34% of 204 = 69 –58% of 204 = 118 –80% of 204 = 163 Add these numbers to 1116 and allow for parity yields workable addresses

Example Using the process described and allowing for parity produces these addresses Reasonable addresses within the existing addresses

The Test Do the addresses fit within the “Rules” or addressing framework? – Yes Do the addresses fit within the GIS ranges? – Yes Do the addresses fit within the MSAG ranges? – Yes Can the addresses be confused? – No Can I live with them? – Yes

Example

Discovered Outliers & Other Problems Look at the surrounding addresses What is the “best fit” with respect to the surrounding area and the addressing framework? –Re-addressing Seldom easy to get the outlier to accept Re-address as few as possible

Best Practices Documented rules and framework –Who does what, when, where and how Consistently applied –Applies to everyone with very rare exceptions Response experience review/input –Get a review or input from the people that are going to be looking for these addresses – PD, FD and/or EMS

Best Practices GIS and involvement in the early stages of development planning. –It is much easier to negotiate a change in a development when its on paper before approval than when its being built.

Questions? James Morse GIS Project Manager Stantec Consulting Services Inc Nelson Miller Parkway Louisville, Kentucky Ph: (502) Fx: (502) stantec.com