Judge Backs 818 / 626 Area Code Split

An administrative law judge has cleared the way for most of Burbank and all of Glendale to be split off from the 818 telephone area code, over the objections of both city governments.

The proposal to run the western border of the new 626 area code through Burbank would “minimize the disruptive effects . . . to the greatest extent possible,” wrote Administrative Law Judge Philip Weismehl.

The state Public Utilities Commission is expected to make a final ruling Nov. 26 on the 818 / 626 area code split. Telephone industry executives expect the PUC to go along with Weismehl’s draft decision. Weismehl’s ruling, made Friday, was received by Pacific Bell on Monday.

“All area code splits are bad” because of the inconvenience, said Linda Bonniksen, a Pacific Bell spokeswoman. But splitting the area code in Burbank “balances the life expectancy of both area codes so it affects the fewest number of customers.”

The new 626 area code would stretch from a line in western Burbank eastward into the San Gabriel Valley. Some 2.2 million to 2.4 million phone numbers, or about 46% of the 818 area code, would go into the new 626 area code. A small portion of Burbank and the rest of the San Fernando Valley would stay in the 818 zone.

“We’re disappointed in the judge’s ruling,” said attorney Norman Pedersen, who represents Burbank and Glendale. The two cities teamed up in March to file a complaint in hopes of pushing the 818 boundary farther east.

But Pedersen said he expects to move ahead with his case before the PUC makes a final ruling.

Area code splits have become a way of life across the country in the past decade because of a surge in phone numbers needed to cope with the boom in everything from pay-at-the-pump phone hookups to fax machines, cellular phones and pagers that have overloaded the telecommunications industry.

Pacific Bell says the 818 area code would have run out of new phone numbers by June 1998, creating an urgent need for a new area code. California now has 13 area codes and is expected to have 26 by 2000.

Slicing up area codes is always a divisive issue. For businesses it means having to spend millions to change stationery, advertising and even computer software. For businesses and residents, it can mean feeling cut off from neighboring communities.

Attorney Helen Mickiewicz of the PUC’s Division of Ratepayer Advocates supported keeping Burbank and Glendale in the 818 area code because of community ties with the San Fernando Valley. Still, she conceded that “letting Burbank and Glendale stay would shorten the life of the 818 area code.”

Pacific Bell said this split ensures that the reduced 818 area code will last from 5 to 8 years before another split is needed, while the 626 area code will last 7 to 13 years.

Although the PUC can overturn Weismehl’s ruling, “they are not likely to do it,” Mickiewicz said, because redrawing the proposed area code boundaries would mean both regions would “run out of numbers sooner.”

For most residential customers, the change to the new 626 area code won’t cost anything. For businesses, though, the change will be both costly and a nuisance.

The Walt Disney Co., headquartered in Burbank, filed documents in support of Burbank-Glendale’s case. Disney notes that it has 11,000 employees in Burbank and Glendale and more than 22,000 phone lines in the 818 area code. Changing those phone numbers would be an inconvenience and a needless expense, the company said. But Disney is a $21-billion company, so the cost amounts to a relative speck.

But Art Aerapetyan, who runs a small auto repair shop in Burbank just east of Clybourn Avenue--one of the dividing lines for the area code split--will feel it in his wallet. He rattled off at least $3,000 in expenses: hiring a painter to change phone numbers on his garage wall, ordering new business cards, receipts and advertising flyers.

His garage has been open for only 18 months, and he’s worked hard to build up referrals. Now he fears that customers might think, with a 626 area code, that Aerapetyan has moved his garage to a new city.

“I’m going to lose a lot of customers,” he said, and perhaps tens of thousands of dollars in sales. “It may take a year,” he griped, for people to get used to a new phone number. “Who is going to pay my rent and electricity? They don’t care about small businesses.”

Said Mickiewicz: “People always complain they have to bear the burden of this. And the people who complain are the ones who order faxes, modem lines, pagers and cellular phones . . . those things that are sucking up phone numbers. People complain, but they want the services that produce the demand and put the pressure on phone numbers.”

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Dividing by Numbers

The plan to give Glendale and most of Burbank and the San Gabriel Valley a new area code is running into opposition. Here are the communities the proposed code would serve.

818

San Fernando

Sunland-Tujunga

North Hollywood

Sherman Oaks

Calabasas

Agoura

Canoga Park

****

626

Mt. Wilson

La Crescenta

Burbank

Glendale

Pasadena

Monrovia

Covina

Alhambra

Rosemead