Half of HP’s Houses Aren’t Properly Numbered
Last June, a Highland Park Department of Public Safety officer noticed that many new houses in the town don’t comply with the ordinance governing the display of street addresses.
Article 3.09 of the Highland Park Code of Ordinances says each house’s number has to be posted “in some conspicuous place” via digits that are at least 3 inches tall and made of “metal which will not tarnish or corrode.” It also says that each house’s number has to be clearly posted in the rear of the property. Those digits also have to be at least 3 inches tall, but they can be “constructed of nondestructible, bright material or shall be painted on a permanent structure.”
Last month, the same officer who made the observation was on a limited-duty assignment, so the officer took time to conduct a full survey of the address displays throughout the town. This survey revealed that more than half of Highland Park’s houses are not in compliance, because of the location, style, color contrast, or material of the numbers.
The Department of Public Safety would like the numbers to be uniform, which would make it easier to find a specific house in an emergency. So letters were sent to all of the out-of-compliance homeowners. But this just led to confusion, because many of the letters’ recipients thought their house numbers were properly displayed.
Why am I telling you all this? Because the entire matter is scheduled to be discussed tomorrow morning at a meeting of the Town Council’s Administrative Committee.
I can’t believe that Chuckles isn’t all over this. House numbers that are 2 inches tall instead of 3! Where is the outrage Chuckles? It’s got to be a conspiracy!