Calabasas 91301 ZIP is okay

The long-debated 91301 ZIP code issue in Calabasas has been sealed and put to rest.

After more than a year of public complaints from resi- dents in the Lost Hills area whose mail was often con- fused with that of Agoura Hills, an agreement was reached with representatives from the United States Postal Service that would add Calabasas to the list of cities included in the 91301 ZIP code. The code prima- rily belongs to Agoura Hills.

"The postal service has agreed now to include Calabasas as an ac- ceptable city name for the 91301 ZIP code area, so it addresses the issues of concern now," said John Bingham, the city's senior man- agement analyst.

Councilmember Barry Groveman represented the coun- cil at several meetings. Despite the seemingly simple solution, Groveman said the job wasn't easy.

"I think the people of Calaba- sas have a right to be angry about the extremely poor service we've gotten from the postal service," Groveman said. "We had to really grab them by the hair. I say that because, how hard was it to put on the name 'Calabasas'. . . and solve all these problems.

"I threatened to subpoena them," Groveman added. "Why did we have to go through that?"

Although the issue has existed for many years, residents' com- plaints about living in Calabasas and having a 91301 ZIP code grew last year. Businesses and utility companies weren't recognizing the code as Calabasas. But the idea of a ZIP code change raised con- cerns about possible insurance rate hikes and the headaches associated with the changing of addresses.

In June more than 1,000 sur- veys were distributed to gather feedback about a proposed ZIP code change. The majority of re- spondents said they would accept a new ZIP code if necessary.

Armed with the survey infor- mation, the city's staff continued meeting with USPS representa- tives until this month when the postal service agreed to include Calabasas as an acceptable city name for the 91301 code. All util- ity companies were notified of the change. The state insurance commissioner's office has said it will be de-emphasizing ZIP codes in setting rates.

Councilmember Jonathon Wolfson said he was pleased witht he outcome.

"I hope and I think that this is one of those nice instances where everybody pretty much is going to get what they want because now 91301 can be synonymous with Calabasas like 91302 is, but you also get to keep the service of, I think, the superior post office sta- tion that's in Agoura," Wolfson said. "I think this is something that everybody can at least be a little happy about."