Road Naming & Addressing

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The GIS Office is responsible for the assignment and verification of physical addresses and associated road names in Albemarle County. The physical address is primarily used to help public safety personnel respond more efficiently in times of an emergency.

Request a New Address

New Buildings

For newly constructed buildings, the assignment of a new physical address will be provided to the owner of the parcel between the footing inspection and final inspection in the form of a County-issued, new address notification letter.

FAQs / Things to Know

The letter will contain instructions on how to display the address to aid emergency response.
Certain permits do not require a footing inspection, e.g. MHP, MHC, TWR. In these circumstances, the address will be assigned between the footing and final inspections.
The letter will be sent to the appropriate postmaster, contact your post office directly to set up mail delivery and to establish an acceptable mailbox location.
If the notification letter has not arrived by the time the final inspection is to take place, email addressinfo@albemarle.org.
Alternatives if documentation is needed before receipt of the notification letter:
- If a closing/mortgage company insists on having this address in order to finalize a contract, supply the tax map and parcel number to the company.
- If an electric/telephone company requests this address in order to install service, speak with a supervisor and provide verbal directions to the new dwelling.

Prior to receiving the letter, you may also be able to find the new address using the County's GIS Web New Address Search interface.

If you cannot find an address, email addressinfo@albemarle.org.

Existing Buildings

Parcel Addressing (Pre-Addressing)

Physical addresses are assigned to addressable structures, not to parcels that do not have structures. There are however some exceptions when dealing with new subdivisions that have parcels that are relatively small. To see if a particular subdivision has been "pre-addressed", please contact the GIS Office Staff.

Request a New Road Name

All roads or driveways that serve three or more addressable structures need to have a road name. A private road or driveway will receive a road name when a third addressable structure is built. The owners of all property served by the access must be involved in the road naming process.

Road Naming Guidelines:

A road name cannot duplicate an existing Albemarle or Charlottesville road name.
A road name cannot begin with the same word/phrase that five or more other road names also begin with.
A road name cannot exceed more than 16 characters, including spaces.
A road name cannot include compass points (e.g. North, East).
If a new road continues across an intersection from an existing road, it will use the same name. If the new road is offset more than 60 feet from the existing road, then it will need a new/different road name.

For reference, please view the Road Name Index and the Road Naming and Property Numbering Ordinance and Manual (PDF).

Please contact us at addressinfo@albemarle.org for further information.

Address Display

In an emergency, how quickly emergency personnel finds your house can make a life-saving difference. A key role in locating your house quickly is address display - the proper street-style address prominently displayed and visible to passing vehicles. Even if you use a post office box for mail delivery, it is the law in Albemarle County to have your correct address displayed.

If you have questions about your address, contact us at addressinfo@albemarle.org. If you have questions about mailbox placement, please contact your post office.

Address Display Guidelines:

Please read the following legal guidelines and check your address numbers today:

Address numbers shall be displayed at the primary access entrance on a mailbox, post, fence or other suitable location that is easily discernible from the road.
If the structure is one hundred feet or less from the road, and the entrance door of the structure is clearly visible from the road, and there is no other suitable location at the primary access entrance, address numbers shall be displayed on, above or at the side of the main entrance door.
The address number shall be displayed as numerals and shall not be spelled out.
The numerals displayed shall be at least three (3) inches in height on a contrasting background.
If the mailbox is not located on the named road from which the number has been assigned, the entire address (number and road name) shall be shown on that mailbox to avoid confusion.
Any numbers previously displayed, which could be confused with or mistaken for the assigned address number, shall be removed from the mailbox and property.
Numbers shall be properly maintained by the property owner to make sure that they remain readable from the road.