911 Locatable Addressing

Yes.  New addresses are subject to an application fee to cover the costs associated with assigning the address and installing the sign.  The current application fee can be found on the address application form or on pages 10-11 of the county fee schedule.

If you will be constructing a new driveway approach, additional permits and fees may apply.  Keep in mind that MNDOT, the county, or your township or city may have additional regulations and fees for constructing driveway approaches.  This process is typically separate from getting an address.

For typical rural addresses, the address number or house number (the first component of a locatable address) is based on the location where your driveway intersects a named road.

Beltrami County's address numbering system uses 1,500 address numbers per mile.  Each segment of road is like a number line with a specific range of numbers assigned to it.  Even numbers are one one side of the road, and odd numbers are on the other side.  All numbers must run in a sequential increasing or decreasing order depending on your direction of travel.

No.  You will need to plan ahead because we cannot issue a new address on the spot. 

If your driveway approach is visible on an aerial photo, your address may be assigned within a couple business days.  However, the processing timeline varies depending on the number of pending address requests ahead of yours and other workload items.

If your driveway approach is not visible on an aerial photo, we will need to send a county employee out to collect GPS coordinates at the driveway location to ensure that your address number is assigned properly.  In these cases, it may take a week or two before your address will be assigned.

The new address information will be sent to you via USPS mail or email depending on which option you select when you apply.

No.  You will need to contact the post office that delivers the mail in your area of the county to set up mail delivery at the new address.  If the post office cannot verify your new address, please ask them to contact the county GIS Department and we'll help make sure they get it added in their system.

A Sign Technician from the Beltrami County Highway Department will install the sign.  First, a wood lath will be placed near your driveway and a utility locating request will be made.  Utility locators will mark any underground utilities near the lath.  When that is complete, the Sign Technician will return and install the address number sign.

No.  Relocating a sign requires approval from the Address Administrator.  In some cases, your address may also need to be changed.  

If your sign is in a poor location or is not easily visible from the road, please contact us so that we can ensure that it is moved properly.

The county will repair or replace damaged or missing signs.  Please use the links below to report sign issues:

Blue address number signs

Green road name signs

You will need to contact us because moving a driveway usually requires a new address as well as costs for installing a new sign.  Your address number is assigned based on the exact location your driveway intersects the road, so moving a driveway means that the number changes.  If you have an existing address, it cannot simply be moved to a new driveway location because this compromises the integrity of the address system and may lead to emergency response delays and other issues.

Unfortunately, local governments have relatively little control over the information in popular consumer mapping applications like this.  Beltrami County tries our best to help add or update missing or incorrect information, but we can't spend all day trying to fix everything.  You can use the 'submit feedback' or 'report an issue' tools in those mapping applications to report your concerns too. 

If your house is in a newer development, it's very likely that your address won't be found on these kinds of mapping applications for weeks, maybe even months.  The good news is that some companies have been making progress on better partnerships with local address authorities like counties and cities so that their data is as current and reliable as possible.

Fire numbers were used by fire departments many years ago when rural properties did not have a locatable address and mail was delivered based on a route and box number.

Fire numbers were typically displayed on red signs with white letters or numbers on them, and they usually displayed the name of the fire department.  These fire numbers are no longer used by the fire departments in Beltrami County.  Your locatable address and the blue address number signs are used to find your property in an emergency.

Your blue sign is technically not a 'fire number'.  It represents your 'house number' or 'address number'.  However, those blue signs are still relied on by law enforcement, ambulance services, and fire departments.