Whether mail is delivered to your home or you use a post office box, your address must be clearly posted on your property.
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OKEECHOBEE — Whether mail is delivered to your home or you use a post office box, your address must be clearly posted on your property. In the State of Florida, the numbers must be a minimum of 4 inches high and must be a half-inch wide. For commercial businesses, the numbers must be 6 inches high. In addition, the numbers must be visible from the road. The color of the numbers should contrast with the color of the wall or post to increase visibility.
Numbers should be visible in the dark to make it easier for emergency vehicles to find your house. Put numbers on your house under a light. Numbers on your mailbox should be reflective and should be visible from both sides of the mailbox, because emergency vehicles may come from either direction.
If two or more houses share a long driveway, all numbers should be posted at the end of the driveway and each house should have its own number posted on the house.
If there are any bushes, vines, flowers or trees planted near the area where the numbers are posted, make sure they are trimmed so the numbers can be seen clearly at all times. Also, all units in mobile home parks must be addressed.
The most important reason to display your address properly is in case of emergency. If you or a family member needs 911 services, they will be able to find you faster if your address is clearly marked. According to city Code Enforcement Officer Fred Sterling, 80% of the homes and businesses in the City of Okeechobee are either not marked at all or not marked properly. This can cause delays in getting care to your loved ones in emergency, he said. They will begin cracking down on this code violation immediately.
Okeechobee County Building Official Tony Giardino said it must be frustrating for the deputies and firefighters to respond to 911 calls where every second counts only to struggle to find the residence because the homeowner did not have his house marked properly or at all, and in Okeechobee County, this is so often the case. In an emergency, every second counts, and someone could die while the ambulance is looking for your house.
