Staff: More than 5,000 roadways need names as Buncombe County tightens street-naming rules for 911 safety

A county staff member told the meeting that Buncombe County has a large addressing workload tied to emergency response: "I know that we have over 5,000 roadways that have been identified that need to be named to meet 911 standards," the staff member said. The comment came during a discussion prompted by a firefighter who raised emergency-response concerns about duplicate and hard-to-pronounce road names.

On punctuation and symbols, the staff member said the county no longer approves symbols (for example, replacing letters with the "@" symbol) and is limiting punctuation such as commas and possessives because those elements complicate 911 radio dispatch and sign posting. "I'm not approving" symbols, the staff member said.

Staff described case-by-case outreach on non-English or unusual names: when property owners request names the county talks through pronunciation and dispatch clarity to minimize confusion for responders. To address duplicate names the county can add directional suffixes or prefixes, adjust numbering ranges, or coordinate with municipal partners. The staff member cited work with the City of Asheville and its naming staff (including Jackson Marks) on clearing historic routing issues.

No formal action was taken; staff said they will research the exact road counts and return with that information and draft changes when the board can act.