A Bid to Zap a ZIP : Bernson in Washington, Appeals Mail Code Tying Constituents to Sepulveda

Carrying complaints from disgruntled constituents right to the top, Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson appealed to the postmaster general Wednesday to grant a divorce to San Fernando Valley residents unhappy over their shotgun postal marriage to much-scornedSepulveda.

“I’m very encouraged by his willingness to cooperate and to help solve our problem,” Bernson said after meeting in Washington with Anthony Frank.

“Postmaster Frank is a former Los Angeles resident, and he knows the neighborhoods and understands the area’s problems,” the councilman said.

During the meeting with Frank and Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley), Bernson appealed a decision last month by local postal authorities to deny his request that residents in small portions of Northridge and Granada Hills be allowed to revert to ZIP codes assigned nearly 30 years ago.

Currently, homeowners address their letters using Sepulveda and it’s ZIP code, although by Los Angeles’ definition they are not residents of the community.

Bernson also requested a new ZIP code for the new community of North Hills, whose residents must also use Sepulveda on envelopes because of the vagaries of postal boundaries that often do not match those used by the city.

“I think it is in the best interest of our communities to have conforming boundary lines,” he said.

Wednesday’s meeting was the result of a drive begun earlier this year by Northridge, Granada Hills and North Hills residents who resent being yoked by a ZIP code to Sepulveda, a community they regard as being on the wrong side of the San Diego Freeway, a magnet for drug dealers and prostitutes--a seedy world apart from their quiet neighborhoods.

Bernson’s proposed ZIP code switch was originally rejected because postal officials said it would be too expensive, entailing the retraining of workers, reprogramming of computers and leasing of a new facility.

Tony Conway, a U.S. Postal Service congressional liaison who was present at Wednesday’s meeting, said officials would re-examine the proposal and also explore a proposal to allow Northridge residents to use the name while keeping Sepulveda’s ZIP code.

A new ZIP code for North Hills, however, would probably not come to pass unless the volume of mail were to increase enough to warrant a change.

“We wouldn’t provide another ZIP code . . . just to provide an identity difference. They’re too precious to hand out just like that,” Conway said.

“It’s the final icing on the cake,” said Michael Ribons, who helped spearhead the campaign to create the breakaway community. “We have a new name; it would be nice to have a new ZIP code. . . . But as long as the mail comes on time, it doesn’t really matter at all.”