County to Verify Residential, Commercial Addresses

Sarasota County is improving its Geographic Information System (GIS) address database to ensure that emergency vehicles, first responders and public safety officials can be dispatched to correct addresses. According to a county news release, the project includes validating all addresses in the unincorporated county and all municipalities.

To ensure that information in the database is correct, addresses and location information may need to be verified. Sarasota County has contracted with Geographic Technologies (GTG) from North Carolina to conduct the fieldwork for address verification, the release said.

The project includes stand-alone buildings and multiple-unit buildings such as apartments, condominiums and townhomes, as well as commercial, retail and office facilities.

According to the county, GTG’s address specialists will wear safety vests and photo ID. GTG vehicles will have identifying signs and warning lights. Staff will operate laptop and handheld computers, may take digital photographs, and will only work during daylight hours.

Residents may be asked to supply a site map or unit map when GTG workers verify addresses.

By providing these documents, residents can help reduce the time required to verify addresses by the field collection team and help ensure that all addresses are accurately located, the release said.

According to the coutny, no personal information will be collected – only the street name, address number and unit/suite number for each location.