(A) Official address.
(1) Official address. Every parcel of land in unincorporated Lake County shall have an official site address. For improved parcels, the official address is to be posted at the access to the property in a prominent location visible from the street.
(a) Standard numbering system. The official address shall follow the Standard Street Address System unless the conditions of division (A)(1)(b), below, apply. The addressing system is based on a uniform grid pattern with its origin beginning at State Street and Madison Street in Chicago. The addressing numbers increase as they go west and north from that point. The grid number represents the number of miles west or north from the base street plus an address number. Lake County's beginning reference point is at the southwest corner of the county, being 20 miles north of Madison Street and 29 miles west of State Street in Chicago. Address numbers with a north directional are assigned even on the west side and odd on the east side of a street. Address numbers with a west directional are assigned even on the north side and odd on the south side of a street. Lake County does not contain any south or east addresses under this system.
(b) Local standard numbering system. If an area is found to have consistent and logical but non-conforming addresses, the addresses in use in that area may be adopted as the standard for that area. The finding of consistency would require that the addresses in use assign odd and even addresses to opposite sides of a street, that addresses ascend in an orderly manner along the street, and that the addresses are not duplicated in the surrounding areas. Adopting the addresses in use in such an area as the county standard would be made in consultation with the fire district providing service to the area and the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
(2) Renumbering required. Renumbering will be required if an existing unincorporated parcel has an address that is not consistent with the Standard Street Address System or if the fire protection district, the Lake County Sheriff's Office or the U.S. Postal Service request assignment of a new address. The Lake County Chief County Assessment Office shall issue a new official address using the provisions of division (A)(1), above.
(B) Administration.
(1) Assignment of address. The assignment of addresses and determination of consistency in unincorporated areas shall be the responsibility of the Lake County Chief County Assessment Office.
(2) Official address record. The Lake County property tax records system shall be the official record of addresses for parcels in unincorporated Lake County. The Lake County Chief County Assessment Office shall maintain and update the official addresses in this system.
(3) Notice of new address. If an address is found to be inconsistent with the provisions of division (A), above, and will be renumbered, the property owner of record, as identified in the Lake County property tax records system, shall be given written notice of the new address. The property owner shall have 90 days from the date of the letter to become compliant with the newly assigned address. Failure to do so will subject the property owner to the enforcement provisions of this section.
(C) Enforcement.
(1) Enforcement Officer. This section shall be jointly enforced by the Lake County Planning, Building and Development Department and the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
(2) Warning. The Enforcement Officer shall issue a Warning of Ordinance Violation when the owner of the property has been given notice of a new address and has not properly posted the new address. The Warning shall require the violator to abate the violation(s) within no less than seven days, and shall state that a Notice of Ordinance Violation may be issued if the Warning is not adhered to as specified.
(3) Notice of Ordinance Violation. If the owner of the property has previously been issued a Warning of Ordinance Violation and fails to abate the violation by the date specified in the Warning the Enforcement Officer shall have authority to issue a Notice of Ordinance Violation. If administrative adjudication is found to be the appropriate remedy to resolve the violation, the Notice must be served in accordance with and shall contain all information specified and required in the Lake County Administrative Adjudication Ordinance (§§ 94.50 through 94.66). Prior to the hearing date documented on the Notice of Ordinance Violation, the respondent may elect to cease the violation for which the Notice of Ordinance Violation was issued, pay the fine listed on the Notice of Ordinance Violation, and not participate in the hearing.
(Ord. 19-1111, passed 7-9-2019) Penalty, see § 150.99