Municipal Addressing

• That the intersection at King St. and James St. shall be deemed the Directional Starting Point for the purpose of municipal addressing on arterial and collector roads. The Directional Starting Point will be followed, where possible, and the streets will be numbered outwardly towards the city of Hamilton boundary.
• That one address shall be assigned per legal lot of record, except where otherwise permitted in this policy.
• That the addressing of local streets shall start from the Arterial, Collector, or closest major road.
• That the right hand side of a street shall be assigned “Even” numbers (beginning with ‘4’), and the left side of the street shall be assigned “Odd” numbers (beginning with ‘3’).
• That a default space for numbering shall be incrementing odd or even numbers for every 20 feet (6 m) of frontage (ex.,  4, 6, 8, 10, or 3, 5, 7, 9).
• That an area with an established numbering pattern shall continue to use that numbering pattern.
• That cul-de-sacs shall be addressed with the lowest numbers starting at the intersection; except that addressing shall be continuous when a “Court” and “Street” have the same name and intersect with each other.
• That a municipal address shall be assigned to the legal lot frontage determined by the Zoning By-law on corner lots.
• That more than one municipal address may be assigned for use by tenants or additional buildings erected on one parcel of land, if available, and without requiring a change to the addresses of adjacent properties.
• It is not the policy to avoid any particular number for any reason such as 13, 44, 69 or 666. It is not the policy to assign “rounded-off” municipal numbers such as 50, 400, 555 and 1000.
• That only whole numbers are to be assigned to establish a separate identity for each building. If necessary, and renumbering of surrounding buildings is not an option, half numbers shall be used. The use of letters for separate buildings shall not be used, such as 5A, 5B or 5C.
• That addresses will not be assigned to vacant or severed lands until such time as an application for a building permit has been submitted or the conditions of the approved severance application have been completely fulfilled. In cases where the approval of a consent application creates a situation where the original address now falls out of sequence from the newly created lots, it will have to be renumbered through the request form.

For assigning new municipal addresses within a new development in Hamilton:

• Single family dwellings - That dwellings will be numbered by increments of four’s
• Semi-detached dwellings - That each dwelling will be numbered by increments of two’s with an interval of two between buildings.
• Street townhomes - That each dwelling will be numbered by increments of two’s with an interval of two between buildings.
• Quadraplex street townhomes - That the individual dwellings be addressed consecutively based on the location of the driveway frontage.
• Condominium townhouse, commercial or industrial blocks - That one municipal address be assigned to the Main access driveway for the Condominium Blocks. It is the developer’s responsibility to assign unit numbers for each Condominium unit.
• Apartment buildings - That one address per apartment building be assigned, and the owner assigns the individual unit numbers as required.
• Commercial, industrial and institutional sites - That one address be assigned per property, unless it is required to avoid confusion with multiple buildings on a site.
• City parkland - That parkland properties be addressed based on the location of buildings, structures, parking areas, splash-pads, or playground areas.
• Utilities - That addresses be assigned to utility facilities for reference purposes in the event of an emergency situation, and a request form has been submitted.

For assigning new municipal addresses within the rural area of Hamilton:

• Agricultural land - That more than one address may be given to a property where there is a second dwelling or large accessory buildings.
• Other development - For commercial, industrial, institutional, and parkland properties, please refer to the policies for new development.
• 911 rural numbering signs
  • Hamilton By-law 02-312 identifies the procedures and placement for the green and white coloured 911 rural numbering signs (municipal civic address signs for non-vacant properties).
  • Appendix “A” identifies the procedures and placement of the red and white Farm 911 - Emergency Access Point (EAP) signs applicable to vacant rural and agricultural properties.

The purpose of this policy is to establish, regulate, and administer the Farm 911 – Emergency Access Point (EAP) program. This program is designed to assign EAP numbers to existing access points on vacant agricultural and rural lands to assist emergency services with locating properties during an emergency.

Eligibility

• The EAP program provides property owners with an EAP number that will allow emergency services to respond to an emergency via an existing access point that does not currently have a civic address assigned to it.
• Owners of vacant agricultural and vacant rural lands within the City of Hamilton’s Rural Area are eligible to apply for an EAP number(s).
• A maximum of one EAP number shall be assigned per existing access point. For large properties with multiple access points, separate EAP numbers may be assigned to individual access points on the same property if it is deemed necessary to improve ease of identification of the access point.
• The EAP program is voluntary and not a requirement for existing access points.

Submitting an EAP Application

• All applicants requesting an EAP number shall submit a Farm 911 – Emergency Access Point Application Form to the Legislative Approvals / Staging of Development Section of the Growth Management Division (hamilton.ca/addressing). There is no application fee for the submission of a Farm 911 – Emergency Access Point Application Form.
• A map, sketch, or site plan of the property shall be included with the EAP application which identifies:
  • location of the existing access point(s) for which the EAP number is requested;
  • location of other existing access points on the property, if applicable, and approximate distance between chose access points;
  • property lines, including approximate distance between the access point for which the EAP access is requested and the property line.
• other information if requested by staff.

• The applicant shall be the property owner or must otherwise include a letter from the property owner designating the applicant as the property owner’s acting agent.

Reviewing the Application and Assigning EAP Address Number

• The Legislative Approvals / Staging of Development Section of the Growth Management Division shall review the submitted application for completeness.
• An EAP number will be determined for the access point location using the City’s current street address range system. Staff, in consultation with the property owner, shall determine if additional EAP numbers may be required for additional existing access points on a property.
• The same EAP number shall not be used at more than one (1) access point location.

EAP Address Number Notification & Signage

• Once assigned, the applicant will be notified of the assigned EAP number and be directed to contact the Transportation Operations Section of the Transportation Division ([email protected]) to initiate the sign fabrication process and confirm installation procedures. The Transportation Operations Section will fabricate the EAP sign with the assigned EAP number.
• Installation of the signage may be completed by the City or the property owner, at the owner’s discretion. If the property owner chooses to install the signage, Transportation Operations will provide directions for appropriate installation. If the City shall be responsible for the installation of the sign, the City reserves the right to schedule the installation as deemed appropriate based on operational requirements and weather conditions.
• EAP sign blades will be red double-sided blades with white reflective numbering. The red and white signage will differentiate the EAP numbers from formal civic addresses that have been assigned and approved by the City.

Exceptions and Limitations

• The EAP number shall not be used as a mailing address and is only intended to identify the location of an access point for emergency services.
• The EAP number does not permit further use or development of the property without proper municipal and /or other approvals. Should development of the property occur in the future, the owner shall be required to submit an application for a Change / Additional Address Request Form and purchase a green and white 911 rural numbering sign.
• The applicant is responsible to maintain both the access point and the EAP signage, including visibility of the signage. Should the EAP signage be removed and/or damaged, the applicant shall contact the Transportation Operations Section of the Transportation Division for a replacement sign and/or accompanying accessories (replacement fee may apply).
• The EAP program shall only be used for vacant agricultural or vacant rural properties within the Rural Area, not including properties in the Rural Settlement Areas, as identified on Schedule D to the Rural Hamilton Official Plan. (Note: vacant properties are defined as those properties which do not contain a building or structure requiring a permit under the Ontario Building Code).
• An EAP number that has been assigned to an access point on a seasonally maintained road may not be accessible during portions of the year.
• The issuance of a number through the EAP program does not represent municipal approval of the physical entrance including, but not limited to, the construction, location, or condition of the existing access point.
• The approval of the EAP application does not guarantee that the access point is adequate or safe for emergency services vehicles. Where access is not adequate or safe, emergency services vehicles may not be able to enter the property via that access point, and will make a best efforts response in emergency situations.