Chapter 12.20 STREET NAMING AND NUMBERING

Chapter 12.20
STREET NAMING AND NUMBERING¹

Sections:

12.20.050 Recordkeeping and public notices.

12.20.010 Street system.

A. All streets, avenues, boulevards, and public highways located in the City which run north and south shall be called streets and shall begin at the south line of the tracks of the Northern Pacific Railroad as located within the City, and the name of said streets shall apply over the entire distance traversed by such streets north and south whether such north and south streets run entirely across the City or not.

B. All streets, avenues and public highways by whatever name designated, now running east and west across the City, or part way across the City east and west, shall be named and called avenues whether the same run entirely across the City or not; provided, that Tacoma Avenue shall retain its present name, but for the purpose of numbering shall be considered as a continuation of the present street known as “F” Street and designated by the ordinance codified in this chapter as Franklin Avenue.

C. The north and south thoroughfares as they are now located in the City shall be named by beginning at the northwest corner of the present plat of the City (the first street on the west line of the City being named First Street) and shall be named numerically, thus, 2, 3, 4, etc., eastward ending with Sixteenth Street as designated by the ordinance codified in this chapter. [1956 Code § 9-201, § 1.]

12.20.020 Street name signs.

The City Council, by and through its proper officers and agencies, shall provide for proper markings and designations the names of all streets, avenues and thoroughfares. Marking and names thereon shall be of such size and in such number as the Council and its proper officials may deem necessary for the proper designation and identification of each and all streets and avenues. [1956 Code § 9-201, § 2.]

12.20.030 Street numbering system.

The City Council, through its proper officials and agencies, shall proceed within a reasonable time to number the buildings and vacant lots fronting upon each and all streets, avenues and thoroughfares as follows:

A. In the business portion of the City (as shall from time to time be designated by the officials of the City Council) there shall be a number of each 12 and one-half feet of lineal space fronting upon such streets and avenues.

B. In the residence portion of the City, there shall be one number for each 25 feet of frontage upon the sides of the streets, avenues and other thoroughfares and, in numbering, the blocks shall be numbered by one hundreds, such as numbering beginning at the south line of the Northern Pacific Railway right-of-way, running south, on each and all streets and at the west end of each and all avenues, and even numbers shall be used on the east side of the streets and north sides of avenues.

C. Thus, such numbering by blocks by 100, the 100 block to extend from First to Second Street, the second 100 block from Second to Third Street and so forth across the City from west to east. For the numbering on the sides of avenues and likewise beginning on the south line of the Northern Pacific Railway right-of-way the second tier of blocks would be numbered from Blaine Avenue to Custer Avenue, the 300 block to the next cross avenue and so on across the City from north to south for the numbering on the sides of the streets, and in all such numbering wherever there is a space of unusual length such as a double block or more, such space will be numbered as one block, and in all such numbering within said blocks, the lower numbers will be placed at the north end of the block in numbering the streets and at the west end of the blocks in numbering the avenues, said numbers increasing southward and eastward in each block facing such streets and avenues. Buildings and lots shall be also numbered north from the north right-of-way line of the Northern Pacific Railway in the same manner. [1956 Code § 9-201, § 3.]

12.20.040 Numbering of buildings.

All buildings in the City facing streets and avenues shall be numbered at the expense of the property so numbered, each property owner to have the right to number his own properties; provided, that in case any such properties are not numbered within 20 days after the passage of the ordinance codified in this chapter or such further time as the Council may grant by resolution or otherwise, the City Council shall have a right and it shall be its duty to have such numbering done and the cost thereof may be collected by action at law or the same may be levied as a charge against the property at the option of the City Council. In all cases, numbers shall be of adequate size to be easily read from the streets and avenues and shall be not less than three inches in height and made in proper legible proportions and of material and style designated by the Council; provided further, that the City Council may change the fact and character of numbering should it be necessary to do so, by resolution duly passed published once in the official newspaper of the City. [1956 Code § 9-201, § 4.]

12.20.050 Recordkeeping and public notices.

It shall be the duty of the City Engineer and the Clerk of the City Council and their successors in office each to keep in his office a plat of the numbering of the streets, avenues, and thoroughfares of the City for the inspection of the public so the parties interested can ascertain from such inspection what numbers are necessary for each person to use, but neither the City Council nor its officials or agencies shall be required to give or serve personal notice upon property owners or occupants to number any property. The passage and publication of the ordinance codified in this chapter shall be considered ample notice to all such persons and parties interested; provided, that the Council may, at its option, publish a general notice to the public at the expense of the City. [1956 Code § 9-201, § 5.]

Code reviser’s note: 1956 Code 9-201 contains a table of streets indicating the names prior to and following the adoption of Ordinance No. 623 in 1921. The table was deleted from the 1980 recodification owing to the interval of elapsed time since the former names were in use.