11/15/04

Inaccurate Zip Codes Cause Problems for Holly Springs Residents
Nov. 22 Public Meeting to be Held for Area Residents Potentially Affected by Survey Effort to Modify Codes

Question: What do you get when you cross an east Holly Springs home that borders the Cary town limits with a zip code for Apex? The answer is no joke.

About 550 homes inside Holly Springs Town limits, about 350 homes planned to be built into the Town limits, and about three square miles of land that has no possibility of ever becoming a part of any Town other than Holly Springs in the future, have a misleading zip code. Because of the misleading zip codes, emergency response times can be delayed, and residents receive disconnect notices from electric, cable and gas companies. Some residents have experienced problems trying to register to vote, register their vehicles and obtain a driver’s license. And, in addition to a myriad of other problems, residents have had to contend with parcel delivery companies, such as UPS and FedEx, which have refused to deliver packages to homes in the area with inaccurate zip codes.

The solution could be near. Holly Springs staff has encouraged the US Postal Service to conduct a survey of properties in the area with the inaccurate zip codes. If more than 50% of the survey respondents vote in favor of a zip code change, addresses in the area will be switched to the Holly Springs name and zip code.

In preparation for the survey, the Holly Springs Planning & Zoning Department has scheduled a public meeting to discuss the survey process and listen to comments and concerns from area residents. The meeting, to be held Monday, Nov. 22, at 6 p.m. at the Holly Springs Town Hall, 128 S. Main St., will include representatives from Town staff and the United States Postal Service district office. In addition, the Town has sent informational materials to potentially affected postal customers.

“Inaccurate zip codes continue to cause problems for area residents,” said Gina Bobber, director of the Town Planning & Zoning Department. “Many residents desire the Holly Springs zip code because it will reduce confusion and enable them to receive improved services. That’s what the survey is all about.

“Zip codes have nothing to do with annexation,” Bobber added. “The zip code modification is purely for public safety reasons and to provide a more accurate identity for the area, improving other residential services.”

Bobber said that the Town of Holly Springs does not annex land without the property owner’s request, unless failing wells and septic tanks create a public health issue. However, should a property owner in the area to be surveyed request to become part of a town, in order to develop the land or to connect with municipal utility services, that property could not become a part of any town other than Holly Springs because of State annexation laws and inter-local agreements between municipalities.

Roughly 550 postal customers who now have Apex and Fuquay-Varina zip codes will receive the survey later this year. All of these addresses are serviced by Holly Springs fire and medical emergency response teams. Some of these addresses are within Holly Springs Town limits but have a different town listed as the address. Some of these addresses are not within the Town limits but still receive Holly Springs fire and medical emergency service. All of these properties have Apex or Fuquay-Varina zip codes but, because of state annexation laws, could never become part of those towns. After the US Postal Service conducts the survey later this year, the properties’ zip codes would change to the Holly Springs zip code if more than 50% of the residents who respond to the survey vote in favor of the modification.

The US Postal Service establishes zip codes for county lands that are not part of a municipality. Since the zip codes were established for the area to be surveyed decades ago, neighboring towns have grown dramatically, to the point of where becoming part of the town indicated by the zip code is now impossible.

Last year, the Town of Holly Springs was encouraged by the US Postal Office to request a survey of residents about a zip code modification for lands with inaccurate Apex and Fuquay-Varina zip codes. The Town notified residents of the possible zip code modification and held a public information meeting with property owners and residents who would be affected by the modification last November. Then, the Town requested the US Postal Service Greensboro District Office to conduct the survey. However, the district office declined the Town’s request, based on a lack of space within the Holly Springs Post Office to add additional routes.

Since then, the US Postal Service has conducted additional studies of the Holly Springs Post Office and has determined that additional routes can be added, and US Senator Elizabeth Dole and Congressman David Price voiced their support of the survey. Now, the Town is preparing to again request the US Postal Service to conduct the survey.

If more than 50% of the responses to the surveys are favorable to the zip code modification, zip codes would change in early 2005. If the response is unfavorable, the Town is required to wait another decade before requesting the Postal Service to conduct a new survey.

Town of Holly Springs - PO Box 8 - 128 South Main Street - Holly Springs, NC 27540 - (919) 552-6221 - Holly.Springs@hollyspringsnc.us