National Night Out is a premier
community-building event in the County. Do you know the police officers
who work to keep your neighborhood and your family safe? Come out to the
many National Night Out events being celebrated around the County and meet the first
responders that serve your community and on your way home --- check your house
numbers and make sure they are visible.
In an emergency, police, fire and rescue workers depend on house numbers to find YOU as quickly as possible. Finding your home - especially at night - can be challenging if address numbers are unreadable, hidden, unlighted or have missing numbers and may delay emergency responders from getting to you as quickly as possible.
Are your house numbers
visible from the street? Are they set on a background of contrasting color? If
your house is hidden from the street, are your numbers attached to a visible
fence, mailbox or gate? Is your mobile home identified with your house number?
If you live on a corner, does your house number face the street named in your
address?
If you've answered
"no" to any of these questions, please follow the guidelines below to
make sure your house number is easy to read:
1. Numbers must be visible from the street. Existing residential home numbering can be 3 1/2 inches high, however new residential homes must be at least 5 inches high and if you replace existing numbers they must be at least 5 inches high.
2. Numbers should be placed on a contrasting background, with a reflective coating on the numbers for easy visibility at night.
3. Repair or replace aging address number placards, especially on mailboxes that are a distance from the front of the residence.
4. Prune any bushes, tree limbs or other growth that has covered your house numbers.
5. Numbers should be placed on or beside the front door. If your door is not easily seen from the street, put the numbers on a post, fence or tree at the driveway entrance so they can be clearly seen from the street. In addition to numbers on the front door of your house, if you have a rural-style mailbox, reflective and contrasting numbers should be placed on both sides of the box so they can be seen by an emergency vehicle approaching from either direction.
1. Numbers must be visible from the street. Existing residential home numbering can be 3 1/2 inches high, however new residential homes must be at least 5 inches high and if you replace existing numbers they must be at least 5 inches high.
2. Numbers should be placed on a contrasting background, with a reflective coating on the numbers for easy visibility at night.
3. Repair or replace aging address number placards, especially on mailboxes that are a distance from the front of the residence.
4. Prune any bushes, tree limbs or other growth that has covered your house numbers.
5. Numbers should be placed on or beside the front door. If your door is not easily seen from the street, put the numbers on a post, fence or tree at the driveway entrance so they can be clearly seen from the street. In addition to numbers on the front door of your house, if you have a rural-style mailbox, reflective and contrasting numbers should be placed on both sides of the box so they can be seen by an emergency vehicle approaching from either direction.
Montgomery County Code on
Addresses
a.The owner of any structure presently
existing or constructed in the future must display Arabic numbers designating
the address assigned to the structure by the Maryland-National Capital Park and
Planning Commission, or by the municipality in which the structure is located.
Numbers must be at least five (5) inches high for single-family detached and
attached residences and at least six (6) inches high for commercial, industrial
or multifamily structures. However, if the numbers designating the address of a
single-family residence on April 5, 1988, were at least three (3) inches high,
those numbers comply with the size requirement of this section as long as they
remain in place. Address displays must be posted on a contrasting background
displayed in a conspicuous place that is unobstructed and clearly readable from
the street named in the official address of the structure. Where a structure
has more than one (1) address or where more than one (1) structure shares a
common entry or driveway, numbers must designate the addresses in sequence.
b. An agency of the county must not require a permit for a sign containing only the address of a residence if the sign is smaller than a maximum size set by the county executive by regulation.
b. An agency of the county must not require a permit for a sign containing only the address of a residence if the sign is smaller than a maximum size set by the county executive by regulation.
