SPRINGDALE -- The City Council recently changed how streets are named and addresses assigned -- sort of.
Clayton Sedberry, the city's geographic information system manager, said he has had the job of approving street names and assigning addresses since he started working for the city in 2002. He started as the system manager in the city's Planning Department.
Several years ago, Sedberry's position came under the umbrella of the city's Information Technology Department, and Sedberry went with it.
The council 0n Dec. 13 approved an update to the city ordinance determining responsibility for recording streets and addresses.
"We did it so we could make the ordinance match our practice," Sedberry said.
The new ordinance also added timelines, so people know when to expect to receive their addresses, he said.
Addresses in the city must be assigned within 10 days of the time the City Council accepts the final plat of a residential, commercial or industrial subdivision and 10 days after the Planning Commission approves residential, commercial or industrial developments.
Addresses created for utility meters, suite and unit assignments and single lot assignments must be assigned within five days, the ordinance reads.
Sedberry said he usually creates addresses more quickly.
Developers, engineers and land agents submit proposals for street names, he said.
He then must ensure the developer has spelled the street name correctly. Often they are named for the developers' children, mothers or other family members. Some cities prohibit this naming practice, but Springdale allows it, he said.
Sedberry also ensures the new street names aren't already assigned to other streets or too similar to other street names, and that the street suffixes follow city grid requirements.
In general, streets running north and south bear the "street" suffix, while those running east and west use "avenue." Cul-de-sacs are most commonly named with "place" and loop roads bear the suffix "loop," Sedberry said.
The Post Office asks cities not to use the same street name more than once in a ZIP code, he said.
The council in October 2020 changed the names of three streets when the city annexed Bethel Heights. Amethyst Avenue in Springdale became Opal Avenue. Onyx Avenue in Bethel Heights changed to Black Onyx Avenue. Mulberry Lane in Bethel Heights is now Loganberry Lane.
All Springdale addresses must include three digits, Sedberry said. Some locations need just two digits, and those addresses must be approved by the council.
Address assignment started in the center of the city, with numbers in the 100s, and work outward, Sedberry said. The city's grid reaches addresses into the 10,000s.
Numbered addresses are already assigned to pieces of land in the grid, which was developed in the 1990s. Blocks generally are 330 feet long, Sedberry added.
Sedberry is working to integrate the city's addresses into the state's next-generation 911 system.
He said he fixes transposed numbers and misspellings in the current city addresses. And the state system has its own quirks -- such as not accepting apostrophes.
Sedberry said the Planning Commission requests about 100 new addresses a month. Lately, he's been working on several large apartment complexes and residential subdivisions.
The city's geographic information system also can determine the centerline of each street, the city limits, access points, hydrants, building footprints and more for the city's emergency services, Sedberry said. The system can determine response times in different areas to help emergency services determine how to use equipment and people.
The city's computer-aided dispatch system runs entirely off the city's geographic information system, said Fire Chief Blake Holte. And it's very important it's set up logically -- like street suffixes to help drivers find addresses, he said.
Northwest Arkansas cities might use different GPS systems, but the cities have exchanged and downloaded each others' information into their own systems for use when working in the other cities.
The Springdale Fire Department provides aid to other departments about once a week, Holte said. Springdale holds data from east of Beaver Lake to Fayetteville to Highfill to Siloam Springs.
The city's system also can help determine accurate travel times to addresses, Holte said.
The posted speed limit on West Sunset Avenue might be 40 mph, Holte said. The geographic information system would determine response times based on the equipment traveling west on Sunset at a consistent 40 mph. But the lights and traffic at the intersections of 40th Street and immediately east of the Sunset exchange with Interstate 49 prevent emergency vehicles from traveling 40 mph on that stretch.
Holte said emergency vehicles more likely travel 35 mph. The emergency departments have worked with Sedberry to lower the speed limits in that area to give the Fire Department a more accurate response time.
Fire Department officials also work with Sedberry when the maps aren't right. For example, the house might have service road access or a parking lot not recorded, Holte said.
He said the department wants no longer than a six-minute response to any point in the city.