Wheatfield working to get unique ZIP code

By Benjamin Joe

The Town of Wheatfield is a step closer to having one unified ZIP code for its residents, as Congressman Timothy Kennedy, 26^th District, works to have the action voted on in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Town of Wheatfield board members and Supervisor Don MacSwan voted to support the legislation at their most recent business meeting on June 2.

“There is a bill that will go in front of Congress, hopefully,” MacSwan said over a brief phone interview. “Whether they will approve it not, I don’t know.”

Reasons for the change were listed with the Town Board resolution and included “confusion in filing death certificates,” as funeral directors had difficulty determining the correct municipality to file the certificate.

GPS maps, as seen on phones or tablets giving directions to the driver, also have difficulty in giving “proper directions to the user.”

Some street names are also in common in all four of the ZIP codes. The resolution also referenced new home builders having their National Grid services delayed over two months because of confusion of which municipality to name in their requests.

“Even for deliveries, it’s very complicated,” MacSwan said. “Now, especially with Wheatfield growing the way it is, it just makes sense to have one ZIP code.”

Kennedy said in a statement the issue was “a matter of fairness and equity,” in which the Town of Wheatfield was missing out.

“A ZIP code is more than a delivery area – it is used to determine commercial services available, delivery of medicine, death certificates and other legal documents,” he said. “With a population of nearly 20,000, residents in Wheatfield currently face an unfair process of having their town split between four different ZIP codes, each of which is identified with a different municipality. My legislation would direct the United States Postal Service to right this wrong and recognize Wheatfield’s status as its own distinct community.”

The bill sponsored by Kennedy was introduced on April 17, and asks for a “single, unique ZIP Code for Wheatfield, New York” within 270 days.