Address Standards

Introduction The Case for Addressing Standards

Chapter 1 Address Format

Chapter 2 Street Naming

Chapter 3 Assigning Address Numbers

Chapter 4 Communication and Integration

Introduction

The Case for Addressing Standards

Street name and address assignment is a basic function of local government and it is often perceived as a relatively mundane task until something goes wrong and a problem arises. Unfortunately, the current address assignment process has created a number of problems in the past and does little to prevent future problems from occurring. The purpose of this document is to provide address assignment standards throughout Johnson County for those who assign addresses with the county.

Many of our current problems stem from the fact that addressing is generally performed without any consistent guidelines and with too little communication with other addressing entities in the County. In the past, this has led to:

• Duplicate street names being used for different streets in different cities
• Duplicate addresses (street number and name) being assigned in different cities
• Multiple street names being used for the same street
• Inconsistent use of street direction and street type (i.e., Avenue, Road, Drive, etc.)
• Address numbers out of sequence
• Address updates that are not communicated to all affected parties

This situation has made it more difficult to minimize the response times for emergency services, provide the timely delivery of mail, and efficiently route service delivery functions. It also causes considerable confusion for the general public. Although addressing problems are often just a minor inconvenience, they can in some circumstances be of paramount importance.

In response to these problems, the County initiated an interagency committee with representatives from city and county government, the Postal Service, and the utility companies.

The objectives of this committee were to:

1. Develop addressing and street naming standards that would be used as guidelines for addressing new development
2. Improve the lines of communication between all of the agencies involved
3. Coordinate local addressing standards with the state-wide GIS addressing recommendations currently under development

The committee is not trying to retroactively change existing addresses or street names. We are simply trying to prevent future problems.