Addressing & Road Names
Rural Addressing in Lafayette County
In this day and age, accurate addressing has become an important part of every day life. While most importantly, addresses are used to facilitate emergency response, they have several other valuable uses. They are essential to mail delivery service with the United States Postal Service, as well as other delivery services such as FedEx or UPS. Digital address and road centerline data is the backbone of GPS driven applications such as Google Maps or OnStar. Often physical addresses are required to secure a loan or insure a property. If your property address is also your home address, it may determine the amount of property tax credit you receive each year. It is also one of the factors that determines who you vote for in local elections.
In recent years, the Land Information Department had strived to improve addressing throughout Lafayette County. This has involved cleaning existing address data, improving the application and installation process for new rural residential numbers, and improving the communication between other County offices and outside agencies who consume this data. In 2016, the County Board also approved the "Lafayette County Rural Addressing and Road Name Ordinance".
Address Assignment
Any habitable structures, businesses, accessory buildings or group of accessory buildings (i.e. a group of farm buildings located separately from the home), or any other structure with a value of $500 or greater is required to have it's own unique fire number. The address assigned by the Lafayette County Land Information Office shall be the official address for said property and replace any prior address used. Properties with more than one single family residence shall have a separate address for each residence.
Once an address request is received it can take several weeks before the sign is printed and installed. Property owners who choose to install a temporary sign should first call Diggers Hotline (811). Residents who live on private drives that serve multiple residents may be required to purchase 2 (or more) signs to allow for "double signing". This involves placing a sign at the end of the private drive, and then again where the individual driveway branches off from the private drive.
Road Names
New Roads. Per the Lafayette County Addressing and Road Name Ordinance, no two roads in Lafayette County shall be identically named or in conflict of existing road names except for those previously grandfathered prior to this ordinance. The Land Information Office has the authority to accept or reject any new road name. Towns shall immediately notify the County Land Information Office of the location and name of all newly proposed public roads. All newly proposed roads will require the completion of the Lafayette County “New Road Name” application unless the proposed new road is listed and named on a subdivision plat
Road Name Changes. Townships shall contact the County Land Information Office prior to changing any existing road names. Upon the effective date of the road name change, the Township shall erect new road signs containing the new road name. The Land Information office will assign and order new address signs for all existing addresses located on the roadway that was changed. The Land Information Council reserves the right to amend, or deny any road name change request.
Private Driveways. Private driveways shall not be named or signed. Instead, structures along private driveways shall be double signed. See Section 2.2 (f) of the Lafayette County Addressing and Road Name Ordinance for details on double signing.
