Kootenai Address Changes Hit Residents Where They Live Numbers Will Change Beginning In Spring; Rathrum Residents To Go First
Jerry Scott wants someone he hopes he never sees to find his house with ease.
“I want the guy in the med-evac chopper to drop right down in my yard if anyone in my family needs it,” the Rathdrum Postmaster says.
So despite the headaches it may mean for his mail carriers, Scott is glad Kootenai County is overhauling the area’s quirky addressing system.
But officials predict it may be a tough sell to some Rathdrum area residents, who will be the first to change their checks and reroute their credit card bills.
The county planning department will answer questions about pending address changes at a public meeting tonight at the Rathdrum Senior Center.
In 1993, the county agreed to overhaul its addresses to prevent duplication and provide more uniformity.
The first phase of changes - in the county’s northwest section - will take effect later this spring. Officials predict up to two-thirds of residents there will see their addresses change.
But an address, it seems, can be as dear to a resident as a home itself.
“I don’t like it,” says Howell Road resident Vida Ackerman. “This is the way it’s always been. I’ve never had a problem with it.”
But someone else surely has. Howell Road addresses skip from 7000 North to 4000 South within the same block. Under the new system, the numbers would run sequentially and all street addresses would be North.
Rathdrum Fire Chief Wayne Nowacki understands the misgivings. He’s lived in Rathdrum so long he no longer needs addresses.
“I’m used to looking for the Old Nelson Place or hearing ‘turn by the big rock where that old angus bull always stands,”’ the Rathdrum native says. “It sounds goofy as hell, but it’s effective.”
But Nowacki also understands the need for uniformity.
“Not everyone has lived here as long as I have,” he says.
Currently, the county is divided into five separate address grids, which means street names and numbers sometimes overlap.
Coeur d’Alene and Dalton Gardens, for example, each have a Garden Avenue. Coeur d’Alene also has Ironwood Way, Ironwood Parkway, Ironwood Drive and Ironwood Court within a four-block area.
Some areas have odd and even house numbers on the same side of the street. That can be a nightmare for visitors, pizza delivery drivers and emergency workers.
“If you’re looking for a fire, well that’s easy to find,” Nowacki says. “But if you have someone inside with a medical problem, that’s different.”
xxxx Public meeting The Kootenai County planning department will hold a meeting tonight at 7 at the Rathdrum Senior Center, 802 Montana, Rathdrum. Representatives of the Post Office, emergency services, sheriff, fire district and planning department will discuss the address correction project and answer questions.