Hometown confusion reigns supreme, and we must place the blame where it justly belongs: On the ZIP Code.
Last week, as I edited Spout Off, one of the complaints resonated with me. In case you missed it, here is a rerun:
“Woodbine/Dennisville – I would just like to protest the fact that whenever something happens in the news and there is an 08270 ZIP code, it is listed as being in or from Woodbine.
The 08270 ZIP code is also used in a wide area of Cape May County, including parts of Dennisville, Belleplain etc. So, please, when you see the ZIP code in your news stories, don’t assume that these things took place in Woodbine, because it probably isn’t so.
There are a lot of good people in Woodbine who get very upset when they see and hear this. Please don’t judge before you know the facts.”
In my Editor’s Note, I responded that releases and stories do not appear with ZIP codes. Drivers’ licenses, which police use when identifying individuals, often list mailing addresses, which may be Woodbine (08270). The same problem exists in Lower Township where Cape May is a prevalent ZIP code (08204).
If you met someone who was uncertain where they lived, what would you think?
The first inclination would be, “This poor soul must be forgetful or worse. He (or she) doesn’t know where he (she) resides.” That may not be the case at all.
This malady afflicts many people who live in places that sound like somewhere else, but, in truth, is not. Stone Harbor Manor is a proud part of Middle Township, not Stone Harbor (08247). Similarly, Avalon Manor is part of Middle Township, although it tried its best to become part of Avalon (08202).
Consider that the Cape May Court House ZIP code 08210 covers an enormous territory. It reaches into Dennis Township, all because of the Postal Service and how rural routes are contrived. The same holds true for Woodbine. That, dear reader, is likely what irked the author of the Spout Off. Woodbine’s reach, thanks to ZIP code is far greater than the municipal boundary.
Those residents, proud of their Dennis heritage know they are not part of 08210 down in Middle Township, but are, in fact, holders of real estate in staid old Dennisville, (08214).
So, what can, or should, be done to rectify this problem?
People in Whitesboro (08252), who have their mail delivered soon realize they may have family and friends thinking they are living somewhere other then their real home. How confusing is that?
Many people in Lower Township have longed for a ZIP code of their own.
That way, the proud residents of North Cape May (08204) would not have to feel like red-haired step children of Cape May (08204) simply because they share a ZIP code. Residents in Cold Spring and other parts of Lower Township may believe they live in Cape May, but in fact, pay taxes in Lower Township.
In her letter, elsewhere in today’s edition, is a well written opinion by former Middle Township resident and committeewoman Pat Peterson, who resides in North Wildwood. Her theme is the need for consolidation on the Five Mile Beach, and her points make a lot of financial sense.
One of her points is that the island shares a common ZIP code. Whether you live in Wildwood Crest, Wildwood, North Wildwood or West Wildwood, according to the grand scheme of things in the eyes of the U.S. Postal Service, you live in Wildwood, 08260.
Tiny Cape May Point somehow wrangled its own ZIP code (08212), but if mail is delivered from Cape May, gone is that unique identity, and they become part of the Nation’s Oldest Seashore Resort (08204).
That, too, is a problem, not only for mail delivery, but for us at the Herald.
A recent crime took place in Cape May Point State Park.
To the unschooled outsider, that would be simple, it would carry a dateline of Cape May Point (08212). But no!
Cape May Point State Park, although it backs up against Cape May Point Borough Hall, is not in that municipality, but is part of Lower Township.
I have mandated that no generic townships be used as datelines. Lower Township and Middle Township are too broad a location. We are, after all, the local newspaper, and should know where Mayville ends and Burleigh begins, or where Cold Spring stops and North Cape May starts.
Lower Township Police Chief Ed Donohue called to ask why we removed Lower Township as the story’s dateline. I told him. I could tell he didn’t buy my explanation. I asked him, “Where is it?”
It surely was not in Cape May Point or Cape May, Donohue declared. He should know. His department has jurisdiction over that piece of turf because it is located in Lower Township.
We debated. Was it Cold Spring? Not really. How about East Cape May? No, that was washed into the sea long ago, but that would be closer than anything.
Where is Sunset Boulevard? Be careful how you answer, it’s not what you may think, and no, it is not Cape May Point.
Not satisfied, the chief and I agreed to simply use the dateline Cape May Point State Park. (Maybe the Postal Service will grant it its own ZIP code, and that will take care of all these woes.
As we discuss consolidations to save tax money, maybe it’s time to quit fighting the inevitable, and acquiesce to the Postal Service’s method of telling us where we live.
That would mean one whopping Wildwood, one gigantic Cape May Court House and Woodbine. Did Cape May grow somehow? It would touch Middle Township, but at Rio Grande (08242). Think about it. Maybe the old mail factory genius was up to something when he or she contrived the ZIP Code. Or maybe it was just another invention to drive us batty.