Title
Readdressing of a Section of NW 34th Street to NW 34th Boulevard (B)
Explanation
On August 2, 2011, the City of Gainesville entered into an Interlocal Agreement with Alachua County for property addressing services which are administered by the Enhanced 911/Communications Office of Alachua County Fire Rescue. The Office periodically initiates address changes to address public safety and related concerns. On August 9, 2012, 80 notifications were mailed to the listed property owners for an area of NW 34th Street which provided notice of an impending change of address to correct a street designation problem.
A section of NW 34th Street currently exists in two areas of the City of Gainesville which are parallel to each other. The duplicate ranges are from 4600 to 4899 and again from 5400 to 5901. This duplication creates confusion for law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical first responders. The Computer Aided Dispatch system in the Combined Communications Center utilizes geo-coding for location determination. With two choices for any location between 4600 and 4899 and 5400 to 5901 on NW 34th Street, additional location information must be solicited from 911 wireless callers.
In an emergency, location of the incident is key and essential to receiving help. Many times, people are stricken with fear or are unfamiliar with their location and cannot provide clear and accurate information to assist law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical personnel in locating them.
The E911 Office will provide a number of services to alleviate the inconvenience of such an address change. The E911 Office will make notifications to the following offices, agencies, and service providers advising them of each address change:
* Emerald Waste Services
* GRU Utilities
* School Board Transportation
* Supervisor of Elections
* Cox Communications
* TV20
* United States Post Office
* City of Gainesville Codes Enforcement
* Alachua County Property Appraiser's Office
* FedEx
* United Parcel Service
The State of Florida will not charge the $50.00 fee to change the address on a driver's license if provided with the official change of address letter from the E911 Office. Additionally, if a vehicle registration requires a change of address, the State of Florida waives the fee except for an amount of $2.50. The Post Office will continue to deliver mail to the old address for one year following the address change. The only change is the street designation from street to boulevard so mail and package delivery should not be adversely affected. Lastly, the E911 Office will provide postage for up to twenty (20) address change notification letters for each address affected by this readdressing.
Gainesville Fire Rescue and Gainesville Police participate as members of the Alachua County E911 Office Road Naming Committee which assisted with the review of the possible solutions to correct the NW 34th Street vs. Boulevard problem and the committee unanimously agreed the road segment should be renamed from Street to Boulevard. This is in keeping with City of Gainesville Municipal Code Sections 23-19 and 23-22. Section 23-19 designates streets which meander and do not run generally in a north-south or east-west direction shall be designated as roads and boulevards. Section 23-22 designates all principal streets running parallel or generally so with Main Street shall be designated as streets.
Fiscal Note
There will be costs associated with changing street signs of approximately $1,450. The E911 Office will assist residents and business owners with postage relating to address change notifications.
Recommended Action
The City Commission hear a presentation on the readdressing and provide any input as appropriate.