The post office denied an appeal by Newcastle to create a ZIP code for the city.

Last September, City Manager John Starbard wrote a letter to U.S. Postal Service headquarters in Washington, D.C., and asked the agency to reconsider the Seattle District’s decision to deny the city a ZIP code.

In December, the city received a response from James W. Kiser, manager of delivery operations for the postal service.

“After a thorough review of the case file and the details of both the Seattle District and Western Area office decisions, it is the final determination of this office to support the denial of your request,” Kiser wrote in his letter.

In his letter, Starbard discussed how the city lost revenue by not having its own ZIP code, and Kiser responded to this concern in his response.

“ZIP codes are designated to allow the efficient and effective processing and delivering of the mail,” Kiser wrote. “It is unfortunate that many businesses, as well as other organizations and state agencies throughout the country utilize the assigned ZIP codes for purposes other than those originally designed.”

Starbard also discussed the city’s mail-delivery problems that result from not having a unique ZIP code, but Kiser said granting Newcastle a ZIP code would not result in any operational benefits and would be “cost prohibitive” to the postal service.

Last summer, the city formally petitioned for its own ZIP code, and after meeting with Seattle District officials, the city’s request was denied, marking the third time city officials had requested and been denied a ZIP code.

Newcastle previously applied for a ZIP code twice — once in 1994, when the city first incorporated, and again in 2004. Both requests were turned down.

Because a city is required to wait five years between ZIP code requests, Newcastle was not able to make a request again until 2009. Now, the city must wait until 2014 to apply once more.

Local officials launched a major effort today to get a ZIP code for the city, by asking residents to fill out survey regarding their issues with not having one.

Since its incorporation in 1994, Newcastle has twice been denied its own ZIP code by the United States Postal Service. 

Newcastle homeowners and businesses now have to use one of two ZIP codes assigned to Renton (98056 and 98059). City officials are petitioning the postal service for a third time, and hope to win the battle with the help of its residents. 

In addition to providing their own documentation, city officials are asking residents to take a survey and send in personal stories of how they’ve been impacted by the ZIP code dilemma.

“We heard from a resident who had a car problem and needed a tow truck,” said City Manager John Starbard. “The stranded motorist told the dispatcher she was in Newcastle and provided her the 98059 ZIP code, but the dispatcher said she couldn’t send help to an ‘unknown location.’ It was if the driver was somewhere that didn’t exist.”

In addition to computers that don’t recognize Newcastle addresses, the city is also losing sales tax money to Renton. When out-of-town or out-of-state deliveries are shipped to Newcastle, many companies use only the five-digit ZIP code to forward sales tax dollars instead of using the complete street address.

“The survey we’re asking residents to take will address many of the problems they face on a daily basis because of the ZIP code issue,” Starbard said. “By sharing their experiences and frustration with the postal service, we hope the outcome will be favorable this time around.”

 The ZIP code survey is available here. Paper surveys can be filled out in person at City Hall, 13020 Newcastle Way.