Having consistent address signage across communities in Lac La Biche County is important to not only help individuals locate homes in the area, but vital for emergency departments dispatched to a recognized address, says Travis Simmons, Lac La Biche County’s Manager of Information Technology.
Since 2020, county officials have been finding solutions to encourage unified signage that displays range road and township road numbering on all rural properties. During the most recent work, municipal officials say they have found at least 850 properties not meeting county standards which require green and white, reflective signs with addresses that must be located and visible alongside the entrance of properties, said Simmons.
“This is for emergency services, fire, police, EMS to be able to find properties, to find our people when they need to,” he said. “If you call 911 and the ambulance drives by you, that might be the end of you so we want to avoid that as much as possible.”
Increased fines
The last time municipal officials looked at the signage bylaw was in 2006, when the municipality — Lakeland County at the time — consisted of only rural areas and did not include the hamlets of Plamondon and Lac La Biche. Because those hamlets are now included in the specialized municipality that is Lac La Biche County, a uniformed address system for houses in urban areas is also being encouraged. For urban residences, a guideline to have four-inch tall letters clearly visible on the street-facing side of the house is being recommended.
Helping to keep some consistency in the address-marking system since then, when development permits are applied for, it has been a pre-requisite that signs are part of that process. Sometimes, however, said Simmons — referencing some of the current list of 850 that are non-compliant — those prerequisites ‘fell through the cracks ... we haven’t been keeping up with the signs for many, many years.”
The overhaul of the addressing bylaw will also focus on the fines associated with property owners not correctly marking their locations.
In the original bylaw, the fines were set at $100 for a first offense and $150 for each additional contravention.
Municipal administration are recommending higher fines this time around — $250 — following a significant public relations campaign to inform the public about the program’s importance.
Explaining that the actual cost of the signs to a property owner is approximately $100, Simmons said the updated presentation and research to council would assist with their decision on the matter.
Voting in favour of the renewed sign compliance bylaw, Lac La Biche County Mayor Paul Reutov says he likes the idea of a uniformed address signs.
“I’ve seen them nailed to a tree, on a fence on a peg that has fallen over ...” he said, explaining that he is also in favour of a small to moderate fine if all other options fail. A large fine, he said, is overkill for this issue. “I don’t think you need to bring a sledgehammer to kill a fly.”
As the new bylaw is refined, a mailed notice including price options for signs, installation companies and options will be delivered to property owners — rural and urban — currently in violation of the bylaw.
Not all areas of the municipality will be included in the update to the address system. In some areas, like the Beaver Lake hamlet and Holowachuk Estates. Both of those areas were identified as urban areas by former Lakeland County planners and have addresses tied more to Canada Post mailing addresses than municipal legal descriptions.
As the new bylaw rolls out, administrators say they will work with Canada Post to coordinate a more uniformed address system for the unique areas.
Future address solutions
For now, however, the need to create a uniform address system is more for the delivery of emergency services rather than mail delivery, says Simmons.
“It doesn't fix any of the mailing address issues, the shipping address issues, this is 100 per cent a 911 addressing thing,” he said.
In the coming months, more information, details and options to provide residents with will be tabled at a future council meeting.
* With files from Rob McKinley
