Prairie Pointe to have special addressing system
County Commissioners gave permission Wednesday to establish special addressing system for an informal subdivision just outside Hillsboro.
Many of those homes, in the Prairie Pointe subdivision east of Hillsboro, use a 190th Street address, even though they use a private lane to reach their homes. Easements have been granted to use the lane but it is not a county road.
The problem is that the four-digit addresses for those homes have all been used, but space remains for two or three more homes.
"We've run out of addresses, and before they can build or do anything, they need an address," said Shelly Abbott-Becker, communications director.
Rural addresses were established to make use of enhanced 911 calls, which can trace a call from a land phone to its point of origin. Assigning an address out of order causes confusion for emergency responders.
"If it doesn't abut a county road, it needs to be platted as a subdivision," Collett said.
David Brazil, planning and zoning administrator, said the subdivision was in place before zoning began.
"There are two places we have problems, one is the county lake, and one is this area here," he said. "These areas are poster children for planning and zoning. When you plan things, these issues are kept at a minimum."
Commissioners decided to let Abbott-Becker work with Robin Taylor in the appraiser's office to set the address. They recommended adding a letter designation, such as 1087-A, to the homes.
They emphasized that the decision does not meet the county is accepting the lane as a county road.
"If we acknowledge its existence, we've got another county lake," Wetta said.
