Georgetown, Del., Aug. 26, 2009: Sussex County property owners who have put off posting their 911 addresses may have escaped tragedy thus far. But there will be no escaping fines in the months ahead.
Beginning Oct. 1, Sussex County will begin fining property owners who fail to post their 911 addresses outside their homes and businesses. Violators, who would be identified upon complaint, would first receive warning letters; after 45 days, fines would begin at $50 and eventually increase to as much as $100 a day until the address is properly posted.
“Sussex County has been patient long enough. This is a matter of life and death, and some people just aren’t getting the message, for whatever reason,” County Councilman Michael Vincent said. “I’m no fan of fines, certainly not as a means to generate revenue. But those who refuse to follow the law have left us no choice. Hopefully, this will catch their attention.”
The fines are the last step in a years-long effort to educate and encourage Sussex residents to properly display their addresses, a combination of a unit number and street name that replaced the more-vague rural route post office addresses used before that.
The 911 addressing project began more than a decade ago to give homes and businesses easier-to-find addresses that firefighters, medics and police could find when minutes count. Since then, Sussex County has issued more than 120,000 new addresses countywide.
The County adopted an ordinance in October 2005 that set rules for the proper display of 911 addresses and established fines for those who did not comply. However, the County elected to not impose fines, for the time being, instead relying on public service announcements, mailers and advertisements as a means to improve compliance. Now, the clock has run out on that grace period.
The County’s 911 addressing ordinance requirements are simple:
- Residences and businesses shall have reflective numbers displayed on a contrasting background, in plain sight of the street to which the property is addressed, for emergency workers to see.
- For numbers displayed on a sign or mailbox, numbers must be at least 3-inches in height, and must be located on both sides of the mailbox, for instance;
- For numbers displayed on the structure itself, numbers must be a minimum of 4 inches in height, and face the street;
- The standards for other types of properties can be found in §73-28 of the ordinance, available at sussexcountyde.gov/addressing-and-street-naming.
Addressing Director Megan Nehrbas said installing the required numbers on a home or mail box is easy to do, with lettering and numbers available at hardware stores and large retailers.
“A relatively inexpensive investment of $10 and a few minutes of time now can prevent a costly fine later on,” Ms. Nehrbas said. “More importantly, it could save yours or your loved ones’ lives.”
For more information, contact the Addressing Office at (302) 855-1176.
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