By Haddon Libby
While the Coachella Valley struggles with its hottest summer on record, a community 400 miles to our north is dealing with a contentious issue of its own. An issue that has divided neighbors for nearly a century.
Street addresses.
On July 9th, the Carmel City Council voted 3-2 in favor of a conventional street address system.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, a city with roots that date back to 1771 and 3,951 current residents, has never used street addresses. Where you or I might have a house located at 73-000 10th Street, a house in Carmel-by-the-Sea would be located at 0 Mission 4 SW 10th Street, or simply by whatever the Owner wanted to call the house. So long as the name is registered at Town Hall, that’s your address. Homes and businesses in the city use these shorthand descriptions of their location or a property name for all city-related purposes.
As you can imagine, identifying a house as the 2nd property on the southwest corner of 5th and Main Street can cause a host of logistical issues.
The most obvious problem is that a package delivery will often go to the wrong location. Resident Deanna Dickmann talked about the loss of critical medication that spoiled on the doorsteps of a neighbor.
Mayor Dave Potter stands in opposition to home addresses and has said, “nobody is going to die if we don’t have street addresses”. He also added that he likes the tradition of having to visit the post office to pick up his mail. In Carmel-by-the-Sea, residents must visit the post office to collect their mail. The United States Postal Service does not deliver mail to locations without addresses.
Mayor Potter’s statement that “no one is going to die” contrasts with the beliefs of the city’s Police and Fire Chiefs.
Police Chief Paul Tomasi made it clear that the 911 emergency system would work better and faster with numbered street addresses. “If you have a medical emergency or fire…you are essentially calling 911 twice,” stated Tomasi as local 911 phone bank operators often must explain the location of a call to non-local crews and their dispatch teams.
Fire Chief Andrew Miller said, “As a professional firefighter for thirty-seven years, if the question is, ‘Is it more advantageous to have building numbers?’ Absolutely.” County contracted ambulance and Emergency services often have trouble finding the location of an emergency.
Given that the average age of a Carmel-by-the-Sea resident is 65 with home values at $2.2 million, one would think that this would not be a contentious issue. The city’s older residents who stand to benefit most by using addresses are also the most vocal critics of the change.
Would having an address attached to a residence reduce the city’s “quaintness” as many profess? Resident Kristi Reimers stated that lack of house numbers is “what makes Carmel, Carmel.”
Councilman Bobby Richards who voted in favor of addresses disagreed, “The character of our village is our people, our politeness, our kindness, our civility…It’s the blue ocean, it’s the green trees.”
Resident David Gomez spoke in favor of the use of street addresses. He cited the challenges in getting insurance for his house or car as most insurance providers want some proof of your address. Many banks without a presence in the city will not lend for the purchase of a car or home. Getting bank accounts can be a challenge as well.
The city will spend the next four months studying how to roll out a conventional address system across the city before implementing the change.
In other news, billionaire Patrice Pastor of Monaco is buying up properties in Carmel-by-the-Sea living locals concerned that the international developer may make the town “unaffordable”.
Writing from Carmel is Haddon Libby is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Winslow Drake Investment Management, a RIA firm. For more information, please visit www.WinslowDrake.com.
