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 Sodus 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 their normal affairs.
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Sodus 11-26-1973 (Ch. 39 of the 1994 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall apply to all properties within the Town of Sodus 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 that is assigned by the Code Enforcement Officer. 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.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
In order to comply with this chapter, house numbers shall be Arabic numerals or alphabet letters, minimum of four inches high, with a minimum stroke width of 0.5 inch, and of contrasting color in compliance with the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code. Numbers 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 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 above the adjacent grade or exterior landing directly 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 so that the numbers may be read with ease during the daylight hours by a person possessing at least 20/40 vision as he views the numbers from the center line of the facing street and at an elevation of five feet above the finished surface thereof. The numbers shall be so placed that trees, shrubs or other obstructions do not block the line of sight of the numbers from the center of the street to any appreciable degree.
Existing numbers used on premises which essentially comply with numbers officially assigned by the Code Enforcement Officer, at least to the extent that such number or numbers are in logical sequence with number or numbers assigned to properties on either side which are located on the same side of the street, shall be considered as bearing the correct number or numbers for the purposes of this chapter. Existing installations which essentially meet the requirements and/or spirit of these regulations, including numbers presently on or attached to a mailbox, may be granted approval by the Code Enforcement Officer without further alteration.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
The absence of house numbers or the insecure fastening or absence of any integer thereof, or the use of any number out of logical sequence for the street toward which it faces, or the failure of a number to meet the elevation requirement or the visibility requirements shall be considered as a 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 Town Code Enforcement Officer to proceed with carrying out the provisions of this chapter and assessing any costs incurred to the property owner concerned, with a minimum charge as set by the Town Board for each property in violation.
The final authority for determining and assigning the number or numbers to be used upon any particular property shall be the Code Enforcement Officer of the Town of Sodus.