Bill May Solve ZIP Code Crisis in Northridge

It gnaws at the hearts of the San Fernando Valley’s displaced persons.

Oh, they have homes, all right. But when they go to sleep in them at night, they are haunted by the thought that although they live in Northridge, their ZIP code says they live in North Hills.

But now--perhaps--no less than the United States Congress is riding to the rescue.

Under legislation introduced in May by U.S. Rep. Howard P. (Buck) McKeon (R-Santa Clarita), the U.S. Postal Service would be required to redraw ZIP code areas to match community boundaries.

The measure, now in committee, would remedy the complaints of Ledora Reynolds and her neighbors in the area between Lassen and Nordhoff streets west of Bull Creek.

Although identified on city maps as part of Northridge, since the early 1960s the neighborhood has been assigned the 91343 ZIP code, the designation for the adjacent--and less affluent--community of North Hills.

For many of the more than 1,000 affected residents, it’s a label they’ve long rejected.

“It’s our right if we’re Northridge to be Northridge,” Reynolds said.

“They’re part of Northridge as far as the city is concerned,” said McKeon’s spokesman, Armando E. Azarloza. “They should have a corresponding ZIP code.”

If the bill becomes law, the neighborhood would probably be annexed to one of Northridge’s existing ZIP codes, Azarloza said, something Reynolds welcomes.

“We’re not asking for a change,” she said. “We’re just asking for what we’re entitled to.”

She said she’s amused that the post office in North Hills will often scratch out the word Northridge on her mail, determined to enforce the numerical designation of the area as North Hills, no matter what the city maps say. She recalled that ZIP codes were originally described as an efficient alternative for addressing letters by city alone.

“Now they’re paying attention to the number and the [city],” she fumed. “What was the purpose of the ZIP code?”

Still, she’s got another government employee on her side besides McKeon--her mail carrier.

“He thinks it’s silly too,” she said.

But while McKeon’s bill would probably soothe the spirits of the Bull Creek residents, it could also resolve a more serious situation in neighboring Ventura County, supporters say.

To the 15,000 residents of Oak Park, shedding the 91301 ZIP code--a number associated with their next-door neighbor, Los Angeles County’s Agoura Hills--is more important than saving their library or improving police services. The unwanted ZIP code brings higher sales taxes on mail-order purchases and confusion for 911 dispatchers.

“This is the most positive step we have had in a battle that has been going on for years and years,” said Chuck Monico, a member of the Oak Park Municipal Advisory Council. “Nobody has been willing to take on the post office.”

The excitement is tempered by only one fact: It is not their congressman who has rallied behind the cause. McKeon introduced his bill at the urging of Northridge residents while Rep. Anthony Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills)--who represents Oak Park--declined to get involved.

Members of the Oak Park Municipal Council, along with Ventura County Supervisor Frank Schillo, are now lining up to support McKeon’s bill and threatening to show their anger at Beilenson at the ballot box.

Kay Van Horn, a Beilenson aide, said the congressman is reluctant to introduce a bill he believes is destined to fail. “The committee [on postal services] feels in essence that they don’t want to micro-manage the post office,” she said. “The bottom line here is that since 1993 the congressman has been involved in the issue. We have encouraged [the Postal Service] to give us a response.”

The Postal Service says it is not in the business of handing out designer ZIP codes.

“All over Southern California and the country there are communities who want ZIP codes for community identity reasons,” said spokeswoman Terri Bouffiou, “but ZIP codes are for efficient sortation and delivery of the mail.”

To change a ZIP code, the Postal Service would have to reprogram hundreds of automated mail-sorting machines in more than 250 locations across the country, at a prohibitive cost, she said.

But while Northridge’s chief complaint is based mainly on protecting the reputation of its community, Oak Park residents face no identity crisis. They say their complaints stem from real problems.

Because their ZIP code crosses county lines, they are charged Los Angeles County’s 1% higher sales tax. Their 911 calls are routed through a Los Angeles County operator unfamiliar with their community’s streets.

“This is a dollars-and-cents issue both on the tax rates and the insurance that we pay,” said Doug Hewitson, an advisory council member who estimates he spends roughly $300 to $400 more a year in home and auto insurance because he’s charged Los Angeles County rates, not the lower rates that apply in Ventura County.

Ventura County Supervisor Schillo says sales tax and motor vehicle registration revenue that should go to Ventura County goes to Los Angeles County instead.

Postal officials say the claims are unfounded and that it’s simply a case of wanting an exclusive ZIP code a la Beverly Hills, 90210.

For Reynolds, although her fight may not have the significance of Oak Park’s, it’s a war she’ll continue to wage.

“We feel that the government is pushing, pushing, pushing the little guy around,” she said. “We have a right to our address. We do not feel the post office has the right to take it away.”

*

Brady is a Times staff writer and David is a correspondent.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Northridge, 91343

Under legislation introduced by Rep. Howard P. (Buck) McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) in May, about 1,000 residents of the Bull Creek area of Northridge would probably receive a new ZIP code. The neighborhood currently has a North Hills ZIP code--91343--although recognized by the city of Los Angeles as part of Northridge.