Council asks safety committee to review ordinance requiring visible house numbers

Councilors on April 10 asked the law director to prepare a model ordinance requiring visible house numbers and referred the item to the safety committee for further review, citing first-responder access and public-safety benefits.

Council president said he had discussed the issue with Chief Young and asked Law Director Valerie to research existing local regulations. Valerie reported the village’s current numbering rules are minimal and largely decades old; she had compiled examples from Cincinnati, Blue Ash and Westerville that include specifics on size, Arabic numerals and visibility standards. Valerie said she forwarded that compilation to the fire chief and to the building official and will provide the materials to council.

Council counsel and members recommended checking the building code as well because commercial construction requirements already specify placement and size. Safety-committee chair Hausfeld said she will arrange a meeting with the chiefs, the mayor and the committee once the law director and building official supply paperwork.

Quotes: "What we have is very basic, very minimal," Law Director Valerie said, referring to the village’s current house-numbering rules. "For safety issues, if nothing else, it would make sense to have something like that so that our chief, our fire, and our police, our first responders can find those things when they need them."

What’s next: The ordinance proposal was placed in the safety committee for drafting and review; staff will check building-code provisions and report back to the committee.