[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Bethel 6-26-1989, effective 8-1-1989. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The purpose of this chapter shall be to require the clear display of house numbers from public streets for all properties that contain principal buildings within the Town of Bethel in order to assist the general public or the authorities in identifying any property in case of an emergency, as well as for the welfare of the general public in conducting its normal affairs.
This chapter shall apply to all properties within the Town of Bethel that contain a principal building thereon, whether or not said building is occupied. Such premises shall bear and display at least one set of house numbers, which shall be assigned by the Building Inspector. Buildings facing two or more public roadways shall be required to display auxiliary numbers, if necessary, to pass the visibility test (as hereinafter set forth) when viewed from those points in the center line of the public roadway opposite those points where regularly used pedestrian or vehicular passageways enter the public roadway.
The final authority for determining and assigning the number or numbers to be used upon any particular property, as well as the enforcement of this chapter, shall be the office of the Building Inspector of the Town of Bethel, his agent or employee.
Every owner or occupant of said lands shall apply to the Building Inspector, who shall furnish them with the correct street number assigned thereto.
The Building Inspector shall be responsible for assigning property number sequences to each lot which is created as the result of a subdivision or resubdivision. Said number shall be in proper municipal sequence in relation to the number assigned to other lots fronting on the same street and shall be properly recorded on the Assessor's records.
In order to comply with this chapter, house numbers shall be in Arabic design, shall have a minimum height of three inches and shall be mounted in a secure fashion to the building's front wall or to a porch or other fixed appurtenance in front of the building in the general vicinity of the main entryway or main path of travel which leads to the main entrance from a public street or shall be otherwise separately mounted in an approved manner upon the face of a wall or upon a post in the front yard of the premises. Auxiliary numbers shall be mounted at a height between four feet and 10 feet upon the adjacent grade or exterior landing beneath, but never higher than 15 feet above the adjoining grade. They shall be sufficiently legible as to contrasting background, arrangement, spacing, size and uniformity of integers to that the numbers may be read with ease during daylight hours by a person possessing at least 20/40 vision if he views the numbers from the center line of the abutting street. The numbers shall be so placed that trees, shrubs and other obstructions do not block the line of sight of the numbers from the center of the street to any appreciable degree.
The absence of house numbers, or the insecure fastening or absence of any integers thereof, or the use of any number not assigned by the Building Inspector, or the attempt to comply by using the numbers on or attached to a mailbox, or the failure of a number to meet the elevation requirement or the visibility requirement, shall be considered in violation of this chapter. Failure on the part of the property owner to comply with the provisions of this chapter within a period of 15 days from the date of issuance of a notice of violation shall be sufficient cause for the Building Inspector or his designated representative to proceed with carrying out the provisions of this chapter, and, upon conviction thereof, the person shall be fined not more than $25.