Published
No address, no building permit.
The county will not issue a building permit without an address
Buried in the county's addressing standards is a sentence that stops a build before it starts, and almost nobody encounters it until it applies to them.
“Building officials shall not issue a building permit until an official property address has been approved.”
— Fremont County Development Code, 2011 Edition (Ordinance 2011-04), Appendix P, section 1.04.040. Consolidated through Ordinance 2026-03. Retrieved 1 September 2026
That is a gate, not a formality. The address is not something assigned once the house exists and the mail starts arriving — it is a prerequisite to the permit that allows the house to be built at all. On a new parcel with no address history, obtaining it is a step with its own lead time, and it belongs near the front of a schedule rather than near the end.
There is a companion provision in the same section: addresses must be clearly visible during all phases of construction, in order to facilitate emergency and delivery services, assessors and building officials. So the number goes up while the work is happening, not when the house is finished.
Which grid your property sits on
Fremont County is not addressed as a single system. The ordinance describes a set of grids, and which one governs your parcel determines who assigns the address.
| What the ordinance says | |
|---|---|
| Where the ordinance applies | Every parcel, lot or tract in Fremont County including the townsites of Chester, Drummond, Egin, Island Park, Marysville, Warm River and Wilford |
| Where it does not | Not including the Ashton, Newdale, Parker, St. Anthony and Teton Address Grids |
| The Fremont Address Grid | All property outside the Ashton, Chester, Drummond, Newdale, Parker, St. Anthony and Teton grids |
| Who assigns on that grid | The County Planning and Building Department or its designee, usually GIS — the County Addresser |
| Who advises | A Fremont County Address Advisory Committee, comprised of one representative from each of several agencies |
For anyone building here that is the practical headline: St. Anthony has its own address grid, and property on it is outside the county-wide provisions that govern the Fremont Address Grid. It is one more instance of the pattern that runs through every permitting question in this town — the answer depends first on whether you are inside the city or in the county.
What annexation does to an address
The ordinance handles the boundary case explicitly, and it is worth knowing because it affects people who did nothing at all.
When a city annexation occurs and is accepted by the State Tax Commission, all parcels within that annexation shall be addressed from that city's address grid, and notification is made to the County Addressor of the changed addresses. The ordinance repeats the point elsewhere: properties annexed into a city will be re-addressed by the city on the city grid.
So an address can change without the owner moving, building, or applying for anything. If your ground is near a city boundary that is plausibly going to move, that is a thing to know in advance — and a reason to check the address on any document that will outlive the annexation.
The landlocked rule
One provision has consequences well beyond addressing, and it is short enough to quote in full effect: parcels within Fremont County that are landlocked shall not be addressed until access is determined by a recorded easement.
Put that next to the building permit rule and the chain is complete:
- A landlocked parcel is not addressed until access is determined by a recorded easement.
- A building permit is not issued until an official property address has been approved.
- Therefore a landlocked parcel without a recorded access easement cannot get a building permit.
That is a genuinely important thing to establish before buying rural ground. Access being available in practice — a track that has always been used, a neighbour who has never objected — is not the same as access determined by a recorded easement. The ordinance asks for the recorded document, and a handshake does not produce an address.
The questions worth answering before relying on any of it:
- Does the parcel already have an assigned address, or is this the first time one has been needed?
- Is access recorded as an easement, and can the recording details be produced?
- Which grid governs — the Fremont Address Grid, or one of the five city grids the ordinance excludes?
- Is annexation pending anywhere near the boundary, which would re-address the parcel on the city grid?
- How long does assignment take at the moment, since the building permit waits on it?
- Is the number posted and visible, which the ordinance requires throughout construction rather than at the end?
- Will any new road serving the parcel be numeric, which is the ordinance's default outside meandering and internal subdivision roads?
How road names are handled
Two further provisions govern new roads, and they explain why some rural addresses look the way they do.
New road names, wherever possible, shall be numeric in conformity with the county addressing grid. The ordinance names its own exceptions: meandering roads and internal subdivision roads. So a numbered road is the default and a named one is the exception, which is the reverse of most people's expectation when naming a private lane.
The preliminary assignment of new addresses is the responsibility of the County Addresser, and new or changed addresses follow the ordinance except as the Addresser determines. There is also a Fremont County Address Advisory Committee, comprised of one representative from each of a set of agencies — which tells you that addressing here is a coordinated function rather than a clerical one.
What to do, and when
- On any rural purchase, confirm whether access is established by a recorded easement rather than by use or by agreement. Without it the parcel cannot be addressed, and without an address it cannot be permitted.
- Find out which grid the property is on, since St. Anthony's own grid is expressly outside the county-wide provisions.
- Apply for the address before applying for the building permit, because the permit cannot issue until the address is approved.
- If the ground is near a city boundary, ask about pending annexation, since annexation re-addresses parcels on the city grid.
- Post the address so it is clearly visible during all phases of construction, which the ordinance requires for emergency and delivery services, assessors and building officials.
- Expect a numeric road name for anything new, unless the road meanders or is internal to a subdivision.
- Update the address on every document that carries it if annexation changes it, because the old number will persist in files long after it stops being correct.
The whole of this is cheap to handle early and expensive to discover late. An address is the least interesting thing about a house, right up to the morning the building official declines to issue a permit without one — which is the same category of problem as the sequencing set out in the two clocks running on your permit.
Common questions
Do I need an address before I can get a building permit?
Yes. Fremont County's addressing standards state that building officials shall not issue a building permit until an official property address has been approved. It is a prerequisite rather than a formality that follows construction.
Can a landlocked parcel get an address?
Not until access is determined by a recorded easement. Parcels within Fremont County that are landlocked shall not be addressed until that point — and without an address, no building permit can issue.
Is a track that has always been used enough for access?
The ordinance asks for access determined by a recorded easement. Long use, or a neighbour who has never objected, is not the same thing, and it will not produce an address.
Which address grid is St. Anthony on?
St. Anthony has its own address grid. The county-wide addressing provisions expressly do not include the Ashton, Newdale, Parker, St. Anthony and Teton Address Grids, so property on the St. Anthony grid sits outside them.
What happens to my address if the city annexes my land?
When an annexation occurs and is accepted by the State Tax Commission, all parcels within it are addressed from that city's address grid, and the County Addressor is notified of the changed addresses.
Who assigns addresses in the county?
The County Planning and Building Department or its designee, usually GIS, described in the ordinance as the County Addresser. There is also a Fremont County Address Advisory Committee drawn from several agencies.
Does my address have to be visible while building?
Yes. To facilitate emergency and delivery services, assessors and building officials, addresses must be clearly visible during all phases of construction — not only once the house is finished.
Can I name a new private road whatever I like?
New road names, wherever possible, shall be numeric in conformity with the county addressing grid. The ordinance's own exceptions are meandering roads and internal subdivision roads, so a numbered road is the default.
Which townsites does the county ordinance cover?
It applies to every parcel in Fremont County including the townsites of Chester, Drummond, Egin, Island Park, Marysville, Warm River and Wilford, but not the Ashton, Newdale, Parker, St. Anthony and Teton Address Grids.