A Tale of Two Area Codes Doesn’t Sit Well With City

City Council members said they plan to fight a Public Utilities Commission decision to divide the city into two area codes--714 and 949--in October.

Officials argue that the proposal would unfairly require area code entries for simple cross-town calls, such as ordering pizza or chatting with friends down the street, and cause confusion in the business community.

“We are going to ask the PUC not to bifurcate the city,” said Vince Whelan, Costa Mesa’s communications director. “We understand we cannot keep 714, but we’re asking for everyone in the city to have the same area code.”

The council will decide Monday whether to file a formal protest to the commission.

Though the utility commission could not provide exact street boundaries Friday, Costa Mesa would likely be divided along stretches of Newport Boulevard, with 949 issued to the east side of town and 714 left for some west-side neighborhoods. Adams Avenue and the Santa Ana River also are likely dividing lines.

“No way should a citizen in a city our size have to dial an area code to reach City Hall,” Councilman Joe Erickson said. “It makes government seem more remote.”

Councilwoman Heather K. Somers suggests issuing 949 to new fax machines, modems and cellular phones. That way, the entire city could stay in 714 for regular phone service, she said.

The commission is adding an area code because Orange County is running out of available phone numbers. About 5 million of the 7.9 million available numbers already are in use, and the rest will be assigned within two years.

The city must prove hardship to change the configuration being proposed.

“Frankly, they need to have some compelling reason why that’s going to have such an adverse effect,” said Kyle DeVine, a spokeswoman for the PUC in Los Angeles. “The fact that Costa Mesa is split is something that we would want to consider, obviously.”

Other cities have won appeals. Burbank and Glendale, for instance, were allowed to keep 818 because of that area code’s known affiliation with the entertainment industry, DeVine said. Still, Monterey Park lost a similar appeal.