Message from the Chief – Importance of Displaying Your Address – This satirical clip from the movie Pleasantville was the best I could find to help demonstrate the analogy of how emergency personnel look and feel when trying to find a location that doesn’t display its address. Though your house or business location is obvious to you, it might not be so obvious for emergency crews when responding to your emergency. Notice I said “emergency crews.” I am referring to emergency medical and fire department services in addition to police services. Locations lacking properly and prominently displayed addresses can seriously impact our response time and delay necessary emergency services. It’s important that your address be obviously displayed for passing motorists to see.

Did you know?

The City of Aransas Pass has an ordinance that requires one to properly display the address of his/her building or residence? That’s right, you can be charged up to $500 dollars for failing to display your address.

FAQ:

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ARTICLE III. – NUMBERING SYSTEM

FOOTNOTE(S):
— (2) —
Editor’s note— Section 1 of Ord. No. 3768, adopted June 3, 2002, repealed Art. III, §§ 26-30—26-37, and section 2 enacted similar provisions to read as herein set out. Former Art. III derived from Ord. No. 698, adopted Feb. 14, 1956.

All buildings, homes, mobile homes, apartments and other structures in the city shall be numbered in accordance with the following plan:

(a) North and south numbers shall commence at Wheeler Avenue.

(b) East and west numbers shall commence at Commercial Street.

(c) Wheeler Avenue shall constitute the base line for all numbering on the streets running north and south, and Commercial Street shall constitute the base line for all numbering on the streets running east and west.

(d) All lots or parts of lots, houses, and structures located on those portions of any street extending north and south and being north of the Wheeler Avenue base line shall be known and designated as “North” and all south of the Wheeler Avenue base line shall be designated as “South;” all located on those portions of any street extending east and west and being east of the Commercial Street base line shall be known and designated as “East” and all west of the Commercial Street base line shall be known and designated as “West.” The prefixes shall be placed before the proper name of the street, as “West ____________ Street” or “North ____________ Street.”

(e) The intersection of Commercial Street and Wheeler Avenue provides the point of reference or hub for the numbering system. Numbers will increase in size as one proceeds in any direction out from this point of reference, with even numbers on the right and odd numbers on the left.

(f) There shall be one hundred (100) numbers to each block; one (1) number to each twenty (20) feet of frontage.

Sec. 26-31. – Chart.

The inspection department shall keep a chart showing the property street number of every lot in the city which shall be open to inspection by anyone interested.

It shall be the duty of the owners and occupants of every residence or business now and hereafter erected in the city to have conspicuously placed thereon in a place easily visible from the street, numbers a minimum of three (3) inches high, showing the number of the residence, business or other structure. Such numbers shall be placed on the structure, building or residence in one of the following manners.

(a)Located on the structure, building, or residence.

(b)Located on a postal box when there exists a single postal box easily identified as belonging to the structure, building or residence.

(c)On the curb between the lot lines of the structure, building, or residence.

(d)Placed in the front yard of the structure, building, or residence as a decorative sign, following all other restrictions on signs within the current ordinances.

In case of doubt or where a question arises as to the proper number to be assigned to any lot or building, the city inspector shall decide the question and fix the number of such lot or building.

If the owner or lessee of any building shall fail, refuse or neglect to place the number or replace it when necessary, the city inspector may cause a notice to be personally served on such owner or lessee or mailed by registered mail to his last known address ordering him to place or replace the number. Such owner or lessee shall comply with such notice within ten (10) days from the date of service.

Sec. 26-34. – Penalties.

Any person, firm, or corporation failing to so number any house, building or other structure occupied by him, or if after receiving notice to do so from the city inspector shall continue in his failure to so number such house, building or structure shall be fined one dollar for each day during or on which a failure to so number continues, such fine not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00).

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Great Question!

For now, it’s all about education. The importance of prominently displaying your address goes beyond the need for police to know which address they are trying to run a search warrant at… <--- ha ha, that was supposed to be a funny!! ;o)

Seriously, police, fire and EMS services have all experienced occasions where once after arriving in the area of an emergency, they are left trying to figure out which exact location is the one with the emergency. When this occurs, the 911 dispatcher has to contact the person back and instruct them to flag down emergency personnel.

Now, imagine that you are the only one home with your mom or your dad or another whom you help care for. In the middle of providing necessary and vital CPR or electrical recovery aid, you have to stop caring for your loved one only to go outside and flag down EMS personnel! Not worth the risk, right?

The quickest & easiest, proactive solution: A prominently displayed address!

Whats to come?

In a few weeks, code enforcement may begin issuing out fix-it-tickets. Fix-it-tickets are legitimate citations issued to code violators. The goal of a fix-it-ticket is to achieve compliance without imposing a penalty. If after receiving a fix-it-ticket and exceeding the correction date deadline, a criminal complaint can be filed with the court charging the violator with the penalty listed within the ordinance. The fine is comprised of $1 for each day the violation continues after having received notice (date the fix-it-ticket was issued).
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“We sincerely hope you find this information helpful. Our goal is not to issue out more citations or generate revenue for the City. Our goal is to work with our community by keeping everyone informed and aware of our public safety efforts. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please comment below, contact us here, or reach out to us on social media. Likewise, if there’s a topic you would like to see discussed, let me know.” -Chief