Hawthorne’s Holly Park to Get Its Own ZIP Code

After more than a decade of putting up with Los Angeles and Inglewood mailing addresses, residents of Hawthorne’s Holly Park neighborhood are finally getting a ZIP code of their very own.

Residents say the old addresses have led to higher auto insurance rates, lower resale values for their homes and a host of other problems.

The new ZIP codes and Hawthorne mailing addresses, which will be assigned to nearly 800 homes and businesses in the area, are expected to go into effect early next year after the holiday mailing rush is over.

“It’s been a major issue in our community for 15 or 20 years,” said Hawthorne City Councilwoman Ginny Lambert, who lobbied for the change. “As far as I’m concerned, that’s a real nice Christmas gift to (Holly Park residents).”

After years of complaints about the ZIP code discrepancy, the Postal Service finally agreed to the change last week after studying the problem and determining that the community was small enough for such a change to be easily accommodated.

“It made sense to do it,” said Terri Bouffiou, spokeswoman for the U.S. Postal Service’s Long Beach division. “The people wanted it, and we could do it without additional expense.”

Postal authorities rejected the city’s request for a single ZIP code in 1979, but began looking into Hawthorne’s problem again this summer during congressional hearings on a bill that would have forced the Postal Service to make ZIP codes conform to city boundaries.

The bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Mervyn M. Dymally (D-Compton), whose district includes Hawthorne, died last month in the House Post Office and Civil Service Committee.

But the hearing, which included testimony from several members of Congress and a representative from the National League of Cities, nevertheless focused attention on the problems hundreds of communities nationwide face as a result of ZIP code discrepancies.

Lambert, who also testified at the hearing, submitted more than 150 letters of complaint from Holly Park residents about the ZIP code problem.

In addition to lower home values and higher insurance premiums, she said, Holly Park residents who have Inglewood mailing addresses frequently experience longer response times from the city’s fire and police departments, pay higher airline shuttle rates and have problems receiving their mail.

“Living in Hawthorne with a neighboring community address is intolerable and unfair . . . and not serving the best interest of the citizens,” Lambert said during the hearing.

The Postal Service also promised to come up with a set of guidelines to deal with the problem in other communities within 60 days of a complaint. Local communities that have also complained of ZIP code discrepancies include Harbor Gateway, Gardena, Compton and Rancho Palos Verdes.