Frequently Asked Questions

Please contact the Columbia County GIS Department at 706-868-3421 to have an address assigned. You should be able to provide the name of the road your driveway will be off, the tax map and parcel of the property if available, and a copy of the record plat of the property if it was recently platted.

All three of these methods allow for centimeter horizontal and vertical accuracy based upon your receiver type. Single-Base is a service provided at no-cost and is available for real-time corrections during data collection. Trimble VRS Now™ is subscription based and allows for real-time corrections from multiple Trimble Reference stations. CORS is no-cost, and is provided for differential correction after data is collected in the field. CORS correction information originates from the GPS constellation.

A road name does not require the County to maintain a roadway if it is a privately owned road. The road name is assigned to aid in emergency response and postal delivery.

Reflective address numbers can be purchased through a variety organizations, including the

Columbia County Fire Rescue headquarters
3910 Desoto Drive
Martinez, Georgia 30907

Commercial structures require numbers that are at least 4 inches tall to be posted on the structure itself within 5 feet of the front door and visible from the roadway. Posting along the driveway access is also recommended.

Multi-family residences, like duplexes, are required to have 3 inch tall numbers posted on the building within 5 feet of the front door and visible from the road if possible. Posting along the driveway access is also recommended.

Address changes can result from a variety of changes like road renaming, driveway access changes, new development, parcel changes, etc.

The county will notify both the regional and local postmasters as well as the Columbia County Tax Assessor’s Office, Water Utility, Fire Rescue, and 911 of an address change. You are responsible for updating accounts with any other service providers or agencies.

If you have a landline, you can contact 911 by calling the non-emergency phone at 706-541-2800 for a test call to verify the address linked to your phone number.

The driveway location determines the roadway and address number. For corner lots, the National Emergency Number Association (NENA)'s standards state that if a house faces a different street than the driveway, the driveway location will be the officially recognized 911 address for emergency response. In urban areas, driveways providing access to structures that do not have their own road frontage, and which are located behind other addressable structures, should be named and addressed as streets, especially if there are 3 or more residences.

Even address numbers appear on the left side of the road while odd address numbers appear on the right side of the road as they increase along the roadway. Address numbers begin at the intersection where the road begins. As for roads that have access or intersections on either end, the address numbers begin at the intersection with the busiest road.

The primary structure on a property will have the same number assigned to it as the real property or land. Every additional structure will be assigned its own unique address. Structures with more than one use or occupancy will have a separate number for each use or occupant. For example, duplexes will have two numbers assigned.

Whenever a road crosses a municipality boundary, we will continue the address numbers as best we can to create a smooth transition.

It is your responsibility to contact Columbia County GIS and Addressing to have an address number assigned before a permit can be issued. You can reach the Addressing department by calling 706-868-3421.

Single family homes are required to have 3 inch tall numbers posted on a fence, wall, or mailbox post approximately 4 feet tall near the driveway access. The numbers should be clearly seen from both directions along the road.

If a residence is on a private drive that serves more than one building, the address number should be posted on the main road for emergency responders in addition to posting it near the driveway access off of the private drive. If a structure has more than one address assigned for multiple uses or duplexes, numbers should be displayed near the door to each unit as well.

The only address number that should be displayed is the one that has been officially assigned by the Columbia County GIS and Addressing Department. If you have any questions about your official address, please contact Addressing Department at 706-868-3421.

A road that serves three or more structures or properties will be named regardless of public or private ownership.

We avoid any same or similar sounding road-names when assigning road names to reduce confusion in emergency situations. We like to work with the affected property owners when a private road name is assigned.

They have changed, be sure to contact the GIS and Addressing Department for the most up-to-date version. The Columbia County Code is available online at the Municode Website. The most recent changes to the code may not be reflected in the online version. If you suspect the regulations

Make selections on the map of the content you wish to be in the CSV file. In the Search Results panel click the More button at the top of the panel and select Export to CSV (Comma Separated). The file will then be exported to the downloads folder of your web browser.

Select the parcels you would like to make mailing labels for, then click the More button at the top of the Search Results panel. Select Create Mailing Labels. If you do not see the option to Create Mailing Labels check to make sure you have selected the parcels and not the address points.

Click Web Maps at the top of the map. Then click Street View to highlight it. If you already have a selection made on the map Google Street View will open in another window or tab. If you have not made a selection, click on the map where you wish to see Street View to open Google Street View.

This feature is not available in the new Maps Online.

To turn off the hover map tips first navigate to the Menu panel by clicking the three stacked lines in the upper left corner. Once the panel opens there will be an option near the bottom called Hide hover map tips. Click this to turn off hover map tips.

To turn specific map layers on and off in Maps Online click Menu in the upper left corner (It is the 3 lines stacked on top of each other). Once the panel opens click Map Layers. This will bring up the Map Layers panel. Clicking the arrow next to the names will drop down all the layers under each category. Click the boxes to hide or show layers. If you are unable to click a box this means that the layer you are trying to view is invisible at the current scale you have the map. You will need to zoom in or out depending on which layer you are trying to view.

Navigate to the Menu panel by clicking the three stacked lines in the upper left corner. Once this panel opens click Map Layer to open the Map Layers panel. Navigate to the layer you wish to increase or decrease the opacity of and click the three dots next to the layer. This will open the drop down to allow you to increase or decrease opacity.