Bull Creek Area May Get Its Own ZIP Code

Seeking to help the so-called “Northridge orphans,” Rep. Howard P. (Buck) McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) said Thursday that he intends to introduce legislation in the House of Representatives next week that would help the residents of about 1,000 homes on Northridge’s eastern edge receive their own ZIP code.

As it is now, the residents’ mail is routed through the Sepulveda post office with a North Hills ZIP code.

McKeon’s bill would require the U.S. Postal Service to redraw ZIP code boundaries to coincide with community boundaries. The Postal Service has resisted previous efforts to give local jurisdictions input into the ZIP code system, saying it would lead to mail delays.

Residents of the Bull Creek area of Northridge have been fighting for years to become an official part of Northridge in the eyes of the Postal Service, citing concerns ranging from image to real estate values to insurance rates.

“We feel that we want to be identified in the community we live in,” said Kim Savage, an employee at UCLA who has lived in the area about two years. “The post office is not recognizing that.”

McKeon first took on the issue in 1993 when he was peppered with questions on the issue at a community meeting at the Cal State Northridge Student Union. Resident after resident complained about the problem, and McKeon vowed to investigate it.

“My office has been working on this problem for several years,” McKeon said in a statement. “Yet, the post office refuses to consider our position and properly adjust the ZIP code to reflect the area’s true identity.

“If the city of Los Angeles designates the Bull Creek area part of the Northridge Community Plan, then why does the post office refuse to assign it a Northridge ZIP code?”