ARLETA : Residents to Protest ZIP Code Rejection

Some Arleta residents are upset that the U. S. Postal Service denied their request for a ZIP code independent from Pacoima, and they are planning to protest the decision next month.

In addition to a demonstration, scheduled for mid-May at the postal service’s San Fernando Valley headquarters in Van Nuys, community activists warned that Arleta residents whose mail is addressed to Pacoima will engage in a mass “return to sender” campaign.

“We intend to make the post office as miserable as we can,” said Hawley Smith, an Arleta Chamber of Commerce member who is leading the ZIP code drive.

Last year, Smith presented the postal service with a petition containing 5,200 signatures in favor of bringing back Arleta’s old ZIP code from the 1960s--91332. Arleta’s post office was closed in 1968, and the area has since shared a post office, and the 91331 ZIP code, with Pacoima.

Local postal officials in February wrote a letter recommending reinstatement of the old Arleta ZIP code to their Pacific area headquarters in San Bruno, which sent it to Washington for approval. The request was denied because “it did not support the postal service’s mission of providing our customers the best and economical service,” according to a postal service letter sent to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).

Arleta residents had asked Boxer, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City) to help establish the independent ZIP code, which they see as a way of enhancing community identity and lowering insurance rates.

Smith and other residents fighting for an independent ZIP code are upset that they were not told that the request was denied, eventually finding out through a copy of the postal service letter from a Boxer aide.

The Van Nuys post office has appealed the decision by the Washington headquarters, and the ZIP code is being re-reviewed, said Terri Bouffiou, Southern California spokeswoman for the post office.

“From the review we did, it would not greatly impact operations,” Bouffiou said. “Nothing will change, other than the last two numbers of their ZIP code.”

“It wouldn’t cost them any money; it doesn’t matter to them,” said John Maxon, who has been active in the ZIP code fight for 23 years. “But it matters to us and our businessmen. It’s a big deal.”

Arleta residents say they have a difficult time attracting businesses and selling their homes because they are linked to Pacoima, which has a reputation for high crime, Maxon said.

“It’s not a matter of saying we’re better than them,” Maxon said. “It’s just a way of clearing up confusion.”