Border Residents Can Pick Town Address

Changing a mailing address can be as simple as filling out forms at the post office or notifying one’s creditors, but it generally involves moving vans and packing crates, or suitcases at the very least.

Not so for the occupants of more than 30 homes in Calabasas. Without ever leaving home, these residents can now choose how they want the world to address them: as inhabitants of Topanga or residents of Calabasas.

The confusion began in 1991, when Calabasas incorporated. At the request of some residents, the postal service did not adjust the ZIP Code boundaries for everyone who found themselves living within the limits of the new city, said Calabasas City Manager Charles Cate.

In a sea of Calabasans, a small cluster of people retained their old Topanga addresses and ZIP Code: 90290. Now, Cate said, they will keep the same ZIP Code, but they can choose to use either name as their city of residence. Calabasas officials announced the change last week.

Oscar Reynoso, the Topanga postmaster, said that the change would be easy to handle because mail-sorting machines read the ZIP Code before the city.

“That’s what determines the delivery--the ZIP Code,” he said, adding that using a Calabasas address with a Topanga ZIP Code would not slow down mail delivery.

Cate said the change will affect some homes on the following roads: Old Topanga Canyon Road, Dale Road, Hill Road, Dorothy Road, Canon Drive, Canon Place, and Valdez Road.