Carmel-by-the-Sea staff present AMS-compatible street-address prototype to improve emergency response and utility service

City staff on Saturday presented a prototype plan to assign standardized, AMS-compatible street addresses across Carmel-by-the-Sea, saying the change would not automatically trigger at-home postal delivery but would make the city’s property locations searchable by USPS, county GIS, mapping platforms and private carriers.

The plan’s lead presenters said the primary goals are to meet state fire-and-building-code requirements for visible street numbers, improve emergency dispatch and arrival accuracy, and allow utilities and delivery services to identify premises more reliably.

City staff member Bob, who introduced the presentation, said the town currently uses centralized mail delivery through PO boxes at the downtown post office and that “implementation of an address system and at-home mail delivery are not the same thing.” He added that the Carmel postmaster and the U.S. Postal Service have told staff that assigning AMS-compatible addresses would not compel the Postal Service to begin residential delivery in Carmel-by-the-Sea.

City staff member Emily reviewed the U.S. Postal Service address requirements staff used to design the prototype. Those include: a primary numeral up to five digits, a single street name in the address line, consistent odd/even numbering by block side, and a numeric or alphanumeric supplemental-unit suffix for subunits. Emily said the AMS (Address Management System) is the authoritative database used by Google Maps, Apple Maps and many service providers to validate addresses.

Kevin, a presenter who said the group developed four…