Calaveras County Municipal Code Ch. 8.10 Calaveras County Addressing Code

Footnotes:

--- (4) ---

Editor's note— Ord. No. 3177, § 1, adopted October 18, 2022, repealed the former Chapter 8.10, §§ 8.10.010—8.10.740, and enacted a new Chapter 8.10 as set out herein. The former Chapter 8.10 pertained to fire and life safety regulations and derived from Ord. No. 2226, 1992; Ord. No. 2701, 2002 and Ord. No. 2761, 2003.

A. This chapter shall be known as the "Calaveras County Addressing Code". It is adopted to establish uniform methods and standards for the assignment of physical addresses within the jurisdictional limits of the county of Calaveras. The development of a uniform system for assigning addresses is required to comply with the state "fire safe regulations" adopted by the county in Chapter 15.09 of the county code and is necessary to ensure a more efficient and dependable means for emergency responders and other public service providers to quickly and effectively locate and access the parcels they are dispatched to throughout the county.

B. When provisions of this chapter require conformance to the fire safe regulations adopted by the county pursuant to Chapter 15.09 of the county code, such conformance shall be required regardless of whether or not the parcel at issue is within the state responsibility area.

C. It shall be the responsibility of the building official to assign physical addresses to all situses and buildings, other than accessory buildings, within the county in conformity with this chapter. The building official is authorized to use discretion in the interpretation of this standard in the event that mitigating circumstances prevent the strict enforcement of these standards.

D. The building official, with the assistance of the technology services department, shall establish and maintain a county numbering system of street and road addresses ("CNS"), which shall be the standardized system by which physical addresses are generated and assigned in the county, and which may be amended from time to time to comport with updates to relevant law or technology.

E. The proper assignment and posting of addresses and road names in conformance with this chapter shall be required before a building permit application is approved by the building official.

F. All references to laws, regulations and ordinances outside of this chapter shall refer to the most current version and numbering of such laws, regulations and ordinances.

(Ord. No. 3177, § 1, 10-18-2022)

For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall be defined as follows:

A. "Accessory building" means a building or structure "of an accessory character" within the meaning of "Section 312 Utility and Miscellaneous Group U" in the most current adopted version of the California Building Code (CCR Title 24, Part 2, Volume 1). It shall not include an "accessory dwelling".

B. "Accessory dwelling" means an attached or detached residential dwelling unit that is accessory to the primary single-unit dwelling on the same site and provides complete independent living facilities for one or more persons, including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation.

C. "Addressing community area" means the community designation assigned to a situs by the building official in conformance with the county numbering system of street and road addresses ("CNS") adopted pursuant to Section 8.10.100(D) of this chapter.

D. "Building" shall have the same definition as it does in 14 C.C.R. § 1271.

E. "County" shall mean the county of Calaveras.

F. "Driveway" shall have the same definition as it does in 14 C.C.R. § 1271.

G. "Dwelling unit" shall have the same definition as it does in the most current adopted version of the California Residential Code (CCR Title 24, Part 2, Chapter 2).

H. "Emergency responders" means people and vehicles an emergency dispatcher may direct to a situs.

I. "Legal access" means the lawful right of an individual in a vehicle to enter upon public or private property from a road.

J. "Manufactured home" or "mobile home" shall have the same definition as it does for purposes of the National Fire Protection Association's "Standard on Manufactured Housing."

K. "Mailing address" means the address used by the county to send property tax bills to the parcel owner.

L. "Official road name" means the name assigned to or authorized for a road pursuant to this chapter.

M. "Officially named road" means a road with a name that has been authorized pursuant to this chapter.

N. "Parcel" shall have the same definition as it does in Section 17.06.1400 of the county code.

O. "Parcel owner" means all owners listed on a parcel's current grant deed as having a fee ownership interest in the parcel.

P. "Physical address" means the number, road name, and Addressing Community Area assigned to a situs pursuant to this chapter.

Q. "Private road" shall have the same definition as it does in Section 12.02.040 of the county code.

R. "Public road" shall have the same definition as it does in Section 12.02.040 of the county code.

S. "Road" or "street" shall have the same definition as "road" in 14 C.C.R. § 1271.

T. "Situs" means a location requiring the assignment of a physical address under this chapter.

U. "State responsibility area" shall have the same definition as it does in 14 C.C.R. § 1271.

V. "Structure" shall have the same definition as it does in 14 C.C.R. § 1271.

(Ord. No. 3177, § 1, 10-18-2022)

A. An address conforming with the CNS shall be assigned by the building official in accordance with this chapter when any of the following occur:

1. A new building permit is issued for any building that is not an accessory building.

2. A new building permit is issued for a new dwelling unit or accessory dwelling.

3. A new building permit or temporary use permit is issued to place or set a manufactured or mobile home.

4. A new road is created on a shared driveway pursuant to Section 8.10.140.

5. At the request of the parcel owner.

6. Any other circumstance in which the building official determines that a situs requires assignment of a new address.

B. Prior to an address being assigned to a situs pursuant to this section, the owner or applicant must establish to the satisfaction of the chief building official that the parcel at issue can be legally accessed from a public road or that there is a recorded deed of easement granting legal access to the parcel from a private road or driveway.

C. Addressing community areas shall be determined by the building official in conformance with the CNS.

D. Within thirty days of assigning a new address pursuant to this section, the building official shall send written notice to the parcel owner, at the parcel owner's mailing address, that one or more situses on those parcels has been assigned a new physical address.

E. Within thirty days of the mailing of the notice described in subsection D, the parcel owner shall post the newly assigned address in conformance with Article 3 of the fire safe regulations adopted by the county pursuant to Chapter 15.09 of the county code.

F. This section applies regardless of whether or not the conditions requiring the assignment of an address arose before or after the adoption or amendment of this chapter.

(Ord. No. 3177, § 1, 10-18-2022)

A. The building official must approve the selection of all road names on public and private roads within the county, including but not limited to all road names proposed in conjunction with applications for approval of subdivision maps, and shall do so in conformance with the CNS. At no time shall a road name be assigned that is a duplicate of any existing named road in the county.

B. The selection of road names for shared driveways shall conform to Section 8.10.140.

C. If a majority of parcels on a road petition the building official to change the name of a road, the building official may authorize adoption of the new name in conformance with the CNS. If the building official authorizes a change to a road name pursuant to this section:

1. A new address shall be assigned to each affected parcel pursuant to Section 8.10.120;

2. The new address shall be posted in conformance with Article 3 of the fire safe regulations adopted by the county pursuant to Chapter 15.09 of the county code; and

3. The owner of the parcel(s) on the newly named road shall be responsible to install and post, within thirty days of the building official's notice pursuant to Section 8.10.120(D), a new road or street sign in conformance with Article 3 of the fire safe regulations adopted by the county pursuant to Chapter 15.09 of the county code.

D. This section applies regardless of whether or not the conditions requiring the assignment of an address arose before or after the adoption or amendment of this chapter.

(Ord. No. 3177, § 1, 10-18-2022)

A. Once more than two buildings (not including accessory buildings) share a driveway to access a public or private road, the driveway shall become a road and shall be assigned an official road name in accordance with this section. Parking lots serving more than two buildings or multiple units within a building are not included in this section. This section applies regardless of whether or not the conditions requiring a driveway to become an officially named road arose before or after the amendment of this chapter.

B. Once the building official determines that a driveway must become an officially named road, a new road name application form shall be sent by mail to the mailing address for each improved parcel accessed from that road. Included with the application form will be three name choices, selected by the building official in conformance with the CNS, and instructions to select a choice. Each form will also contain a blank field in which a parcel owner may, alternatively, write in a different road name conforming to the CNS. Each improved parcel accessed from the road to be named shall be assigned one vote, which must be selected in writing on the application form and returned to the Calaveras County Building Department within thirty days of the date on which the form was sent by the building official.

C. Once thirty days has passed since new road name application forms were sent in conformance with subsection B, the building official shall review all returned application forms to determine whether a majority of parcels have selected a particular new road name conforming to the CNS. If so, that name shall become the official name of the new road. If no majority was garnered for any one name, the building official shall select, from among the three choices originally sent to the parcel owner, a CNS conforming name to become the official name of the new street.

D. Within thirty days of authorizing an official name for a new road pursuant to subsection C, the building official shall mail written notice to the owner of each parcel containing a situs accessed by the newly named road that new physical addresses have been assigned to the situses.

E. The notice provided in conformance with subsection D shall include notice of all of the following:

1. The newly authorized road name.

2. For each situs on the parcel, a newly assigned numerical address which conforms to the CNS.

3. The addressing community area assigned to the situs through the CNS.

4. An advisement that the new physical address must be posted in accordance with Article 3 of the fire safe regulations adopted by the county pursuant to Chapter 15.09 of the county code.

F. The owner of the parcel(s) constituting the third dwelling on the former shared driveway shall be responsible to install and post, within thirty days of the building official's notice of the newly assigned name, a new road or street sign in conformance with Article 3 of the fire safe regulations adopted by the county pursuant to Chapter 15.09 of the county code. All parcel owner on the newly named road shall be mutually responsible to maintain the sign after its initial posting.

G. Within thirty days of the mailing of the notice described in subsection D, the owner of each situs assigned a new address shall post the new address in conformance with Article 3 of the fire safe regulations the fire safe regulations adopted by the county pursuant to Chapter 15.09 of the county code.

(Ord. No. 3177, § 1, 10-18-2022)

A. When the building official determines that an existing address (or series of addresses) does not conform to the CNS, he/she may assign a new, conforming address to replace the former one. An entire address or any portion of an address may be corrected by the building official under this subsection.

B. The discretion of the building official to assign a new address pursuant to subsection A shall be undertaken on a case-by-case basis and shall in no way be construed as imposing a duty upon the building official to investigate pre-existing addresses throughout the county to determine which of them require address correction to comport with the CNS.

C. A parcel owner desiring to voluntarily request that an address (or portion of an address) assigned to a situs on his/her parcel be corrected to conform to the CNS may apply for a voluntary correction by the building official, who shall provide an application form for such purpose. The building official will review the application and, if the address is corrected, send notice of such to the applicant pursuant to subsection E.

D. Examples of circumstances in which address correction pursuant to this subsection may be appropriate include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Current address number sequencing or assignment is incorrect or nonexistent in the CNS.

2. Current addressing range along a road is misaligned or miscalculated for purposes of the CNS.

3. Current street name results in the existence of duplicate street names within the county's jurisdiction, sounds too similar to another street name within the county's jurisdiction, or otherwise fails to conform to the CNS.

4. Current addressing community area is incorrect for purposes of the CNS.

E. If the building official determines that an address should be corrected, he/she shall promptly mail written notice of the correction to the owner of the affected parcel at his/her mailing address. Such notice shall explain how the prior address failed to conform to the CNS and shall also include all of the following:

1. The correct road name.

2. For each situs on the parcel, the correct numerical address.

3. The correct addressing community area assigned to the situs through the CNS.

F. If a parcel owner believes that the building official has erred in his/her determination that an existing address fails to conform to the CNS, the parcel owner may submit a written request for reconsideration to the building official within thirty days of the date on which the notice per subsection E was sent, explaining why he/she believes the preexisting address conforms to the CNS. The building official shall respond in writing, either granting or denying the request for reconsideration, within thirty days after receiving the parcel owner' request and shall include a brief written explanation of the decision. The response shall be sent by mail to the parcel owner at his/her address on file with the county.

G. If the parcel owner does not agree with the building official's decision with respect to his/her request for reconsideration, the parcel owner may appeal the decision to the board of supervisors within fifteen days of date on which the building official sent his/her written response to the request for reconsideration. An appeal filed under this subsection must be in writing, dated, signed by the parcel owner and submitted to the clerk of the board of supervisors. The issue on appeal shall be limited to whether or not the pre-existing address conforms to the current version of the CNS, and the appellant shall carry the burden of proof.

H. An appeal filed in conformance with subsection G shall be heard by the board within forty-five days of its submission, and the determination of the board of supervisors shall be final.

I. A parcel owner subject to address correction under this section shall be responsible to post, within thirty days of the date on which notice per subsection E is sent, the newly assigned address in conformance with Article 3 of the fire safe regulations the fire safe regulations adopted by the county pursuant to Chapter 15.09 of the county code.

J. If address correction requires correction of a road name, the parcel owner subject to the correction shall also be mutually responsible to install and post, within thirty days of the date on which notice per subsection E is sent, a corrected road sign in conformance with Article 3 of the fire safe regulations the fire safe regulations adopted by the county pursuant to Chapter 15.09 of the county code. Unless a contrary arrangement is made through a recorded road maintenance agreement, responsibility for the future maintenance of the road sign shall be shared equally among all parcels accessed via the subject road.

K. If a request for reconsideration has been timely filed, the posting requirements of subsections I and J shall, alternatively, be completed within thirty days of the date on which the notice of determination is sent. If an appeal of the reconsideration decision is timely filed, these posting requirements of subsections I and J shall be completed within thirty days of the board of supervisor's decision on the appeal.

L. This section shall apply regardless of whether or not the conditions requiring correction of an address arose before or after the adoption or amendment of this chapter.

(Ord. No. 3177, § 1, 10-18-2022)

It shall be unlawful to post any road name or address that has not been authorized in accordance with this chapter.

(Ord. No. 3177, § 1, 10-18-2022)

Violations of this chapter shall be deemed a public nuisance and may be enforced pursuant to chapter 8.06 of the county code.

(Ord. No. 3177, § 1, 10-18-2022)

If any clause, provision, sentence or paragraph of this chapter or the application thereof, is deemed to be invalid as to any person, entity, establishment, or circumstance, such invalidity shall not affect the other provisions of this chapter which shall remain in effect, and to this end, it is hereby declared that the provisions of this chapter are severable.

(Ord. No. 3177, § 1, 10-18-2022)