Report to: Development Services Committee Report Date: November 16, 2010
SUBJECT: RECOMMENDATION
REPORT
Reviewing Street Addressing
Criterion Number 12
PREPARED BY: Robert Tadmore, Senior Project Coordinator, GIS and Data Management ext. 6810
RECOMMENDATION:
1) That the report entitled “Reviewing Street Addressing Criterion Number
12”, dated November 16, 2010, be received.
2) That Staff be authorized to interpret
the intent of street addressing criterion number 12 to permit the inclusion of
both odd and even numbers when assigning addressing in the case of small
courts.
3) And that Staff be authorized and
directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Not applicable.
On September 14, Development Services
Committee approved an address change request for the property addressed as 4
Devon Court. The owner wished to change the address to the number 3, citing
negative superstitious connotations involving the number 4 (Figure 1). This
requested address change had previously been denied by Staff because it was
deemed to conflict with the Council adopted street addressing criterion number
12.
Street addressing criterion number 12
(Appendix ‘A’) prescribes that “In the case of small courts, the buildings are
numbered in a clockwise direction using a single run of numbers, usually even.”
This has been a long-standing practice for small courts which typically consist
of the circular bulb portion of a court and which include a limited number of
parcels. The circular nature of these types of courts lend themselves to a
single run of even, or odd numbers, as there are no significant straight lengths
of street preceding the bulbs to warrant the inclusion of both odd and even
numbers.
The September 14 Council decision
raises the question of interpretation of street addressing criterion 12
regarding the numbering of small courts to include both even and odd numbers.
Staff wishes to clarify with Council the interpretation of this criterion in
order to determine how Staff is to deal with further such requests regarding
criterion 12.
A second address change request
involving a small court has recently been submitted for 4 Padget
Place (Figure 2). As a result Staff wishes to clarify the interpretation of
street addressing criterion number 12 having regard for further address change
requests on small courts. Staff has contacted the
Markham Fire Department, York Regional Police and the York Region Ambulance
Service. All were asked whether they had concerns with the introduction of odd
numbering on small courts. They unanimously confirmed that in the case of small
courts which only comprise the bulb portion of the street and where only even
numbering has been assigned previously, they would not object to the introduction
of odd numbers into the numbering sequence.
In light of these findings, Staff re-examined
the wording of street addressing criterion number 12, which states that
numbering is assigned in a clockwise direction using a single run of numbers
that are “usually even”. The wording of the criterion could be interpreted as
not excluding odd numbers in the sequence, and Staff wishes to confirm this
interpretation with Council.
Given the September 14 approval by
Council for the address change request for 4 Devon Court to 3 Devon Court, and
the fact that emergency response services do not have any objections to include
odd numbers in the even numbered addressing sequence for small courts, it is
recommended that Staff be authorized to interpret street addressing criterion
number 12 as permitting the inclusion of odd numbers into the even address
numbering sequences for small courts.
Any requests for street number change
under these circumstances would be dealt with on a staff delegated authority
basis, and subject to the street address change policy attached as Appendix
‘B’.
This interpretation of street
addressing criterion number 12 in no way contemplates the approval of any
address change request that would result in the transposing of address numbers
on longer streets having odd and even numbers on opposite sides of the street.
Odd and even numbers must remain on their respective sides of a street. All
emergency service providers are adamantly opposed to the transposing of address
numbers.
Not applicable.
Not
applicable.
Not
applicable.
Not applicable.
RECOMMENDED
BY: ________________________ ________________________
Biju Karumanchery, M.C.I.P. R.P.P. Jim
Baird, M.C.I.P. R.P.P.
Senior
Development Manager Commissioner of
Development
Services
Figure 1 – Devon
Court Addressing
Figure 2 – Padget Place Addressing
Appendix ‘A’ – Street Addressing Criteria
Appendix ‘B’ – Street Address Change Policy
File path: Q:\Development\Planning\Teams\Geomatic\Admin\Reports\Reviewing
Street Addressing Criterion Number 12.doc