§ 18.16

The Board of Supervisors finds that the public interest, safety, welfare and convenience require the establishment of a numbering system of street and road addresses in a uniform plan for the County of Mendocino. For the accomplishment of this objective the Board hereby establishes a uniform numbering system of street and road addresses for the unincorporated areas of the County which shall be known as the Mendocino County Master Grid Numbering System (the "System").

(Ord. No. 772, adopted 1971.)

(Ord. No. 4370, § 1, 12-6-2016)

The adoption of the System shall in no way affect the legal description of property by lot and block numbers, by metes and bounds or by U.S. Government Survey.

(Ord. No. 4370, § 2, 12-6-2016)

Editor's note— Ord. No. 4370, § 2, adopted December 6, 2016, renumbered § 18.16.100 as § 18.16.020. Former § 18.16.020 pertained to "Precise Plan," and was derived from Ord. No. 772, adopted 1971.

The following meridians have been established as base lines within Mendocino County: For all roads determined to have an east/west orientation, the base line is US Highway 101. For inland roads determined to have a north/south orientation, the base line is the Mendocino County courthouse, located in Ukiah. For coastal roads determined to have a north/south orientation, the base line is the mouth of the Navarro River, near the junction of State Highway 1 and State Highway 128. Determination of orientation and the application of the coastal addressing base line shall be at the discretion of the Address Coordinator.

(Ord. No. 772, adopted 1971.)

(Ord. No. 4370, § 3, 12-6-2016)

The System shall consist of a map or maps, upon which map(s) the base lines shall be shown or designated and by index lines indicating the principal locations at which major units of the numbering system shall commence, and upon which shall be designated the numbers and location of numbers assigned to particular buildings and lands under the system. All sub-index maps constituting any part of such system shall be referenced thereon indicating that the said map(s) constitute a portion of the System. The format of the System may be modified or adapted as technology develops to allow for the most accurate and efficient use of the System.

(A)

Master Grid Index Map. The Master Grid Index Map shall show the general locations of areas now or hereafter gridded under this Chapter, and shall serve as an index to the Sub-Index Maps showing the detail of precisely numbered areas.

(B)

Sub-Index Grid Maps. Sub-Index Grid Maps shall show detail of precisely numbered areas.

(Ord. No. 772, adopted 1971.)

(Ord. No. 4370, § 4, 12-6-2016)

The Planning and Building Services Director shall designate an Address Coordinator for the County of Mendocino. The System shall be continued, enforced, operated and maintained within the unincorporated areas of the County of Mendocino by the Address Coordinator, and property numbers assigned within such

area shall be done in accordance with the System. The County Surveyor shall provide such technical assistance as may be requested by the Address Coordinator in carrying out the provisions of this section. It shall be the duty of the Address Coordinator to notify all persons of the number assigned to each location; the requirements of this Chapter that numbers be installed and maintained in such manner as to be visible from the street in front of each location or from the roadway or driveway leading to buildings removed a substantial distance from the public street or road upon which the subject site abuts. The Address Coordinator may issue to any parcel owner in an unincorporated area of Mendocino County with a developed parcel upon request and without charge, a number in accordance with this Chapter. The Address Coordinator is responsible for maintaining the numbering and road naming system and shall keep a record of all numbers and names assigned under this Chapter. Said records shall be open for inspection by the public during regular business hours.

(Ord. No. 772, adopted 1971.)

(Ord. No. 4370, § 5, 12-6-2016)

(A)

Assignment. For the purposes of determining the address range of a road or street, the total length of the road in feet shall be divided by 5.28 to indicate the total number of addresses available for said road or street. The approximate straight-line distance between the end of the road connected to the most major access route and the appropriate base line shall be used to determine the beginning of the range. For purposes of determining the proper number for a particular location, the number assigned shall be proportioned to the distances between the numbers next adjacent to the location on either side of the base or index line(s) if no numbers have been previously established on adjoining properties. For purposes of determining whether a number shall be odd or even, it is determined that odd numbers shall be on the southerly and easterly side of the street or road and even numbers on the westerly and northerly side of the street or road. Alphanumeric designations may be used for attached structures with multiple entrances, i.e. duplexes, apartment buildings or office suites. Detached structures should not be given alphanumeric designations, and the use of fractions is not acceptable for any address designation. When possible, the Address Coordinator will refrain from assigning a number that is immediately next in sequence to the next adjacent number. In the event of no numbers being available the Department may, at its discretion, choose to readdress the affected area to better space the units or, if applicable, petition the Board of Supervisors to officially name an existing private access road allowing for the development and assignment of a new range of numbers. For the purposes of determining the appropriate road or street used for addressing, numbers may only be assigned to the last officially named road or street traveled to access the subject property. Unofficial, local or alternate names for roads or driveways may not be used in the assignment of addresses.

(B)

Correction and Adjustment. The established range of a road or the existing addresses along said road may be revised or corrected at the discretion of the Department. Priority is given to the concerns of emergency service agencies when said concerns involve errors, inaccuracies or confusion in the addressing system. Said concerns will be deemed urgent by the Department and the Address Coordinator will take appropriate

action to achieve a resolution. The County shall have the right to alter or change any existing address in the unincorporated areas of the County if said address is found to be in conflict with any of the guidelines herein or as laid out in the Mendocino County Code.

(Ord. No. 887, adopted 1972.)

(Ord. No. 4370, § 6, 12-6-2016)

Any private road, street or way established, or any of the same offered in dedication for public use or any private street or roadway established shall be named in accordance with this Chapter. All streets, roads, and ways shall be known by the same name for the entire length.

The County may require a name for every access that serves at least four (4) dwellings and/or business establishments, except in mobile home parks, shopping centers and apartment type developments.

Private roads shall be named or renamed pursuant to the following procedures:

(A)

The naming or renaming of a private road may be initiated by the County, a public safety agency, or any property owner whose property is served by the road. A "public safety agency" shall include: (1) any fire protection agency or district, or any other kind of special district, established in accordance with State law and authorized to provide fire protection services within the unincorporated area of Mendocino County; (2) the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office; (3) the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection; and (4) the California Highway Patrol.

(B)

Property owners seeking to name or rename a private road shall file an application with the Department of Planning and Building Services (the "Department"), which shall include the proposed road name, a map showing location, alignment, access, and parcel numbers, and a petition including the signatures of sixty percent (60%) of the property owners whose property is served by the road.

(C)

Public safety agencies seeking to name or rename a private road shall submit a name change proposal to the Department, which shall include the proposed road name, a map showing location, alignment, access, and parcel numbers.

(D)

Review and Notice of Proposed Naming or Renaming.

(1)

Address Coordinator Review. Prior to any naming or renaming of a private road, the Address Coordinator shall study the proposed name to assure that the proposed name does not duplicate or sound like any existing road or street name within the various regions of the County. If the road name proposed by a

property owner or public safety agency duplicates or sounds like an existing road or street name, the Address Coordinator shall notify the applicant or submitting agency that the Address Coordinator will recommend rejection of the proposed private road name and may request the submission of alternative road names.

(2)

Notice to Property Owners and Referral to Public Safety Agencies. Following Address Coordinator review, road naming or renaming proposals shall be referred to public safety agencies for review and comment, and property owners whose properties are served by the road shall be notified of the proposal. Referrals and notices shall provide for a thirty (30) day period for written comments or objections to be submitted to the Address Coordinator. Notice to property owners shall be mailed by the Department to all property owners whose properties are served by the road.

(E)

Director Determination and Notice. Following the thirty (30) day comment period, the Director of the Department ("Director") shall consider the comments and objections submitted and shall make a determination on the requested name change. Notice of the Director's determination shall be provided to property owners and public safety agencies as stated in paragraph (D) of this section.

(F)

Appeal. Any property owner or public safety agency may appeal the Director's determination to the Board of Supervisors by filing a written appeal to the Director and the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors within fifteen (15) days of date of the Director's determination. The Board of Supervisors shall hear the appeal at a public hearing, which shall be noticed for ten (10) days pursuant to the notice procedures as stated in paragraph (D) of this section. The determination of the Board of Supervisors after the hearing shall be final and conclusive.

(G)

Signs. All officially named private roads shall be identified by a posted road sign. Signs shall conform to the location and design requirements as listed in the County of Mendocino Road and Development Standards document, standard numbers RS20 and RS21, or comply with the requirements of the California Department of Forestry and/or Local Fire Agency, where those standards are more restrictive. Creating, installing and maintaining said sign shall be solely the responsibility of the property owners served by the road.

(Ord. No. 772, adopted 1971, as amended by Ord. No. 3376, adopted 1982.)

(Ord. No. 4370, § 7, 12-6-2016; Ord. No. 4481, § 1, 1-26-2021)

Editor's note— Ord. No. 4481, § 2, adopted January 26, 2021, repealed § 18.16.080 which pertained to the procedure for approval of name of street and derived from Ord. No. 854, adopted 1971 and Ord. No. 4370, adopted December 6, 2016.

The Address Coordinator shall give notice to the owners of land or buildings which are assigned or reassigned numbers under this system, which notice shall contain the new number or number reassigned to a particular building or parcel of land, and the date on which the new number shall become effective. Within thirty (30) days of such effective date of notice of number assigned or reassigned, the occupant/s or owner/s of the property or buildings shall cause the number to be displayed upon the building or land in such manner as to be visible from the street or road upon which the land or building fronts, and shall remove or obscure from public view any old or previous number not in accordance with the System, provided that in areas where buildings are removed considerable distance from any public street or road or where rural free delivery of mail is provided, the number may be displayed upon receptacles designed for the delivery of mail. Provided further, however, that a proper number which shall be a minimum height of 2½", preferably 4", and contrasting color from basic background, shall be displayed in accordance with the System upon any roadway or driveway leading to buildings removed a substantial distance from the public road or street upon which the subject site abuts.

(Ord. No. 772, adopted 1971.)

(Ord. No. 4370, § 9, 12-6-2016)

Failing or refusing to display a proper number after notice of such has been given in accordance with Section 18.16.090 of this Chapter, or willfully displaying or permitting to be displayed any improper number after aforesaid notice, is an infraction and may be punishable by fines as specified in Government Code section 25132 or any successor statute, and may be declared a public nuisance. In addition, a violation may be redressed by civil action or through the provisions or any other applicable state or local law.

(Ord. No. 4370, § 10, 12-6-2016)

Editor's note— Ord. No. 4370, § 2, adopted December 6, 2016, renumbered § 18.16.100 as § 18.16.020; and § 10 renumbered § 18.16.120 as § 18.16.100. Former § 18.16.100 pertained to "Legal Description of Property Not Affected," and was derived from Ord. No. 772, adopted 1971.

If any Section, Subsection, Subdivision, Sentence, Clause or Phrase of this Chapter is for any reason held to be unconstitutional, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Chapter. The Board of Supervisors hereby declares that it would have passed the ordinance adopting this Chapter and each Section, Subsection, Subdivision, Sentence, Clause and Phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one (1) or more Sections, Subsections, Subdivisions, Sentences, Clauses or Phrases be declared unconstitutional.

(Ord. No. 4370, § 11, 12-6-2016)

Editor's note— Ord. No. 4370, § 11, adopted December 6, 2016, renumbered § 18.16.130 as § 18.16.110. Former § 18.16.110 pertained to "Map or Maps," and was derived from Ord. No. 772, adopted 1971.

Editor's note— Ord. No. 4370, § 10, adopted December 6, 2016, renumbered § 18.16.120 as § 18.16.100. Former § 18.16.120 pertained to "Penalty," and was derived from Ord. No. 772, adopted 1971.

Editor's note— Ord. No. 4370, § 11, adopted December 6, 2016, renumbered § 18.16.130 as § 18.16.110. Former § 18.16.130 pertained to "Severability," and was derived from Ord. No. 772, adopted 1971.

Editor's note— Ord. No. 4370, § 12, adopted December 6, 2016, repealed § 18.16.140 in its entirety. Former § 18.16.140 pertained to "Urgency Measure," and was derived from Ord. No. 772, adopted 1971.

CHAPTER 18.20 - MOBILEHOMES AND MOBILEHOME PARKS