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What's Brewing

No new number, thanks

By SUSAN THURSTON
Published July 21, 2006

It's a weird thing about certain numbers. I can forget what I wore to work yesterday, but my childhood phone number, unused for decades, rings loudly in my mind.

I think I'll go to the grave knowing that number, along with my grandmother's address and my dad's lucky number, 23.

For whatever reason, those numbers are embedded in my mind.

So it's easy to understand why Dan Maxey doesn't want to change his address, 2944 W Ellis Drive in the Interbay neighborhood. He's had his number for 13 years and likes it just fine. His kids have grown up with it.

But the city says it has to go. For safety reasons.

Last month, Maxey got a letter stating he has to change his number to 2946 because a developer down the street plans to build three houses on what used to be two lots. Adding the house means about half a dozen people on one side of the block have to change their numbers.

Maxey, 53, refuses and has sent letters to the mayor and city officials objecting to the switcharoo. City Council member Rose Ferlita investigated but doesn't know how to resolve it.

"It's a real big mess," she said. "I think that people's property rights are paramount except for health and safety issues. I think it's going to be public safety that trumps his rights."

Maxey wants the city to give the new houses, which haven't been built yet, half addresses or letters, such as 2940 or 2940A. Or even a fifth number, such as 29401 or 29402.

He can't understand why he has to go through the hassle of changing his mail, driver's license and house documents just for the convenience of a newcomer.

"I have a history here; they don't," said Maxey, a retired military police officer at MacDill Air Force Base who now works for Verizon.

City officials, while sympathetic, says there's not much they can do. An agreement with the county 20 years ago says all cities in Hillsborough will have consistent addresses to aid 911 emergency dispatchers. That means no new halfsies or letters for residences, except for apartments and condos.

Thom Snelling, the city's deputy director of growth management and construction services, recognizes the burden - and emotion - that comes with changing an address. But he also understands emergency service needs. A half address or letter on a single-family house might confuse a police officer expecting an apartment. A five-digit number on a street of four-digit numbers wouldn't appear on computerized grids.

"It sounds like we're being overly cautious," said Snelling, noting that complaints about address changes are likely to increase as more developers subdivide lots. "But nothing is wrong until something goes wrong."

Snelling said he was "more than surprised" about all the controversy surrounding addresses when he joined the city years ago. Calls are quite common.

Some people don't want addresses that add up to 13. Others resist certain numbers because of cultural reasons. A few have objected to multiple sixes.

The city tries to accommodate requests whenever possible. And for new neighborhoods, it spaces out numbers just in case someone later wants to subdivide large lots.

But in cases like Maxey's, which involve tweaking addresses in well-established neighborhoods, options are limited.

He has filed an appeal with the city and notified the post office to keep his old number until he says otherwise. His neighbors don't like the change but consider this a losing battle, he said.

For now, confusion reigns. Maxey's city water bill, which reflects his "new" address, goes to his next-door neighbor, but the rest of his mail arrives under his old address.

He and his neighbors shuffle mail daily. Up the street, two houses are marked 2952 W Ellis Drive.

Maxey wonders how safe his street is in the middle of all this. And he prays no one has an emergency.

THE LAST DROP: Bayshore Boulevard is a bit more scenic these days thanks to new trash cans. The city recently installed 13 bins along the route and more are on the way. The black metal bins, which cost $700 each, are long overdue. They replaced ones from 25 years ago and match new ones downtown.

Susan Thurston can be reached at thurston@sptimes.com or 226-3394.

[Last modified July 20, 2006, 13:25:32]