Kiski Township residents will be required to have their address visible from the street in order to assist police and rescue personnel responding to emergency calls.
Township supervisors passed an ordinance Wednesday that requires house numbers to be readily seen by passing traffic.
“This is a very rural community and emergency services have had difficulty before pinpointing the address of a 911 call,” said Mike Bash, supervisors vice chairman and assistant chief of Kiski Township Volunteer Fire Company. “This ordinance was put in place to make sure we don't have those types of problems in the future.”
While the ordinance states that the township will rename streets with conflicting or duplicate names, Bash said Wednesday that residents' addresses will not change.
All that the ordinance requires, he said, is that residents whose addresses are not readily visible from the street install reflective signs by the roadway clearly marking their house numbers.
Residents with numbered addresses on their house within 100 feet of the roadway don't need to do anything.
Only those who live beyond that point and don't have an address posted within 6 feet of the foot of their driveway will be required to do so, according to fire chief and township Supervisor Rich Frain.
“There are a lot of houses here that might share one driveway that goes up for miles from the road,” Frain said. “Having the numbers there will help.”
The ordinance states that such numbers must be in 3-inch reflective white lettering on background signs measuring 6-by-18 inches. Residents are responsible for buying and mounting the signs, which are available at most hardware stores.
Residents who fail to comply with the ordinance after 90 days of notification will be fined anywhere between $300 to $600, with each day in violation constituting a separate offense.
The township will notify residents of the ordinance through the mail in the near future.
Kiski Township police Officer Darhl Goldinger, who doubles as the township's code enforcement officer, will enforce the ordinance.
Business owners in the township will be required to adhere to the same regulations for commercial structures as residential homes.
The ordinance will require the township to install street signs in a handful of locations where they're missing, Bash said.
Braden Ashe is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-226-4673 or bashe@tribweb.com.
