Council Backs Area Code ‘Overlay’ Plan

The 213 is now 323--but only in a doughnut-shaped area ringing downtown Los Angeles. The 818 was recently split, adding 626. And just this month, 805 lost part of its domain to 661.

Keeping track of the region’s ever-shifting area codes is just as confusing as it sounds--and relief from numbers shuffle is overdue, the City Council decided Wednesday.

Led by Valley members Hal Bernson and Laura Chick, the council endorsed the idea of “overlay” area codes, an alternative to the often-difficult geographic splits that make way for new telephone numbers. The council’s resolution urged phone companies to adopt the concept.

With the overlay approach, a region keeps its existing area code. A new area code is assigned to cover the same zone, with the new numbers issued as the old ones run out. Seeking an end to “area code madness,” the county Board of Supervisors endorsed the overlay model in January.

Telephone industry experts have said new area codes are needed because fax machines, cellular phones, pagers and computer modems are steadily consuming phone numbers.

The state’s first overlay--the 424 area code--was recently introduced to the 310 region, covering the South Bay and Westside areas of the county. While the cost and inconvenience of switching codes is avoided, the trade-off is that people within the 310 area must start dialing 11 digits for every call, even those within the same area code.