Fierce backlash over plan to renumber Taunton street. Is your street next?

TAUNTON — Taunton Fire Lt. Kevin Farrar still remembers an emergency call that came in around 9 p.m. years ago for a child having difficulty breathing at a home on Williams Street.

The address was 139 ? Williams St. The first responders found 139 Williams St., and expected to find 139 1/2 next door. They did not. The next home was 135.

Dispatch had to call the home back because they couldn’t find the address. The engine continued down Williams Street until eventually they found the home with residents outside shouting at them.

The address sequence was: 139, 135, 135 ?, 137, 137 ?, and then 139 ?.

“Four homes between a whole number and a half number,” to find the out-of-sequence home, exclaimed Farrar to the City Council recently.

The engine got there in time and the child lived, Farrar said.

The Gazette confirmed the address sequence on Williams Street remains the same to this day.

This was just one example Farrar gave at the June 4 City Council meeting of emergency calls where problems arose due to addresses being out of sequence, where odd and even numbers were on the same side of the street and addresses where the home can't even be accessed on the street assigned.

“You Amazon packages not getting there is an inconvenience. A delay in emergency services is downright dangerous,” Farrar said.

And Williams is far from the only street in Taunton with this issue. There are plans by city departments, with backing from public safety and the mayor’s office, to address this issue across Taunton with renumbering.

City Engineer Michael Patneaude told the City Council his department and Taunton FD’s Fire Prevention Office have been working over the years to assemble a list of affected homes and streets across the city.

The Taunton Daily Gazette will write more about other streets affected in a future article. The City plans on tackling Woodlawn in East Taunton — which has prompted a fierce backlash from residents.

Plan to renumber Woodlawn Street

Woodlawn Street in East Taunton was chosen by the Engineering Department for renumbering due to odd and even numbers on the same side of the street, numbers being out of sequence, and at least one home having a fraction for an address — 4 ? Woodlawn St.

Woodlawn got the attention of Patenaude due to a new home being built and needing numbering, which prompted the city to take a closer look at the whole street.

Farrar said Woodlawn was an example where developers “didn’t account for future expansion” over the decades and “put the numbers too close together,” leading to these numbering issues.

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Fierce backlash from residents

Residents of Woodlawn Street were notified by the city that all 29 homes are intended to be renumbered, which brought much verbal outrage to Council Chambers.

“Domino's can find my home. You’re telling me police and fire can’t? That’s crazy!” said Steven Simmons, of 17 Woodlawn St.

Simmons said all his business licenses are registered to his home address, and changing his address “will impact my livelihood” due to the time and hardship it will take to get them revised.

John Punda, of 6 Woodlawn St., is a retiree — 30 years with TMLP as a Lineman — and has lived on that street his whole life. He said he doesn't believe there's ever been an issue, whether police, fire, or food delivery, of a home not being found in a reasonable amount of time.

"There are streets in Taunton with bigger problems than ours, and they should be addressed first," Punda said.

Numerous residents, like Kim Dorsey of 44 Woodlawn St., were very frustrated over the amount of documents, accounts, and other things they will have to change with the new address, including: the title and deed to their homes, mailing address, drivers licenses, insurance, bills, taxes, utilities and social security benefits.

"Everything associated with our addresses,” she said, adding police have been to her home and “they didn’t have trouble finding it.”

“We will have to undergo a lot of financial responsibilities,” changing everything to reflect the new address said Eileen McKinnon of 10 Woodlawn St., adding her house number has been there for 124 years, according to her research.

Richard Murray, also of 10 Woodlawn St., reiterated to the City Council the street is only 3/10 of a mile long with a cul-de-sac at the end.

“I know there are worse streets in Taunton. I feel confident first responders can find any home here,” he said.

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The argument that GPS exists for this reason was brought up numerous times by residents on Woodlawn Street.

Letters from the police and fire chiefs and Brewster Ambulance to the City Council said they do use GPS, but warned of its limitations.

“GPS works, until it doesn’t,” said Fire Chief Steven Lavigne in his letter, elaborating that power interruptions, network failures, and Wifi connectivity issues can occur out of the blue.

He went on to say that “we train to have a working knowledge of streets and districts,” but "having correct and accurate sequentially house numbers on residences and businesses is part of our rapid response action plan, and must be as accurate as possible."

Police Chief Edward Walsh in his letter said renumbering streets like Woodlawn is warranted as they “are not following rational and traditional numbering schemes” and there is a high probability of delays and “not finding homes in time” when an emergency call occurs.

City Solicitor Matthew Costa wrote in his letter to the Council that agencies like the State 911 Department have established standards for street numbering, and, presently, “Woodlawn doesn’t conform to these standards.”

He added that, under Mass General Law, a municipality is responsible for issuing street numbers and, if a tragedy were to occur where police or fire didn’t make it to an emergency call on time due to difficulties finding the location, the city could be held liable.

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Problem ignored for decades

Farrar, of the Fire Department, said the issue of misnumbered streets in Taunton is one that’s been ignored for decades.

Patenaude from the Engineering Department found evidence the city knew this was a problem on Woodlawn Street going all the way back to 1968 when that street had multiple homes developed and required new addresses. An old renumbering plan was in city records, indicating a plan in place to renumber the whole street.

This didn’t happen and the new homes worsened the situation.

“The problem was identified over 50 years ago. It should have been corrected then,” he said.

Farrar said the inconvenience to homeowners and resulting backlash are why this issue hasn’t been corrected on many streets.

“Other administrations kicked this down the road. We are here today because no one had the stomach for this,” he said.

Farrar added he doesn’t expect the residents to say “thank you for making my life more difficult,” but it’s necessary to fix the problem.

Limited help for residents on Woodlawn Street

Mayor Shaunna O’Connell said in a letter to the City Council the city will purchase the new numbers and reflectors for nighttime for each resident. The City’s Council on Aging stated it would assist any seniors on Woodlawn with changing addresses with different bills, accounts and state entities.

City councilors voice opposition — but not their decision

All members of Council who chimed in expressed support for the homeowners over the hardship this change will produce on their lives.

Councilor Kelly Dooner said she didn’t support changing all the addresses at once, but supported a more gradual approach, like adding a restriction to when the property and deed are transferred, mandating a renumbering of the property then.

Councilor Barry Sanders recommended the city provide more financial assistance and resources to the residents.

“This can’t be the end of our intervention.  We should assume all costs for this,” referring to potential costs associated with revising the title and deed to a home.

Other councilors echoed residents' belief that new reflectors and signage, for the current addresses, were enough for the smaller, dead-end street that is Woodlawn.

“A smaller street like this is not as big an issue,” said Councilor Scott Martin, adding there are streets and addresses across the city worse than Woodlawn.

Whose decision is it?

The City Council has no authority over the decision to renumber Woodlawn. Councilor David Pottier said it's the Engineering Department that has sole discretion over the mapping and numbering of streets, and it can change the numbers based on the safety concerns expressed by public safety officials.

All the City Council can do is make a recommendation, he said.

Possible compromise?

Sanders recommended the Engineering Department take all the comments from both residents and Council members into consideration, spend at least a month rethinking the plan for Woodlawn, and possibly come up with a compromise that wouldn’t involve a total renumbering.

The City Council as a Whole unanimously approved the recommendation, and Patenaude from the Engineering Department agreed to the request.

This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Backlash over plan to renumber Taunton Street. It's just the beginning