COURTHOUSE AT CENTER OF CITY BORDER DISPUTE.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

LANCASTER - The new Los Angeles County courthouse is a prized project for the city of Lancaster, whose officials are proud to have the new structure going up in their city boundaries.

To the U.S. Postal Service, however, the project is in Palmdale. What's more, postal officials said, Lancaster officials agreed to that years ago.

The city of Lancaster is at loggerheads with the U.S. Postal Service over the proper boundary separating the Antelope Valley's two largest cities.

Although the cities agree that Palmdale ends at the middle of Avenue M in front of where the courthouse is being built, the Postal Service says the two cities long ago agreed that for mail delivery, Palmdale extended to the north side of the street.

There are a number of stretches along the border between the two cities where parts of Lancaster are considered Palmdale and vice versa as far as mail delivery is concerned, said Dennis Davenport, Lancaster's assistant city manager.

``This is more than about community identity, this is about public safety,'' Davenport said. ``In an emergency, why add this confusion?''

Lancaster wants the Postal Service to recognize that the boundary line runs down the middle of the streets separating the two cities.

The U.S. Postal Service said its policy for the past 20 years has been to have a whole street go to one city and not split a street down the middle. Splitting a street in such a manner causes confusion for residents and forces mail carriers to cross over each other's routes, said Postal Service spokeswoman Terri Bouffiou.

``We set up routes to be the most efficient,'' Bouffiou said. ``We don't want carriers traipsing over each other's trail.''

The alignment of addresses has been an ongoing issue of discussion dating back to the 1980s. A push was made at that time by Palmdale officials concerned that some of their residents, including then-Councilman Joe Davies' northwest Palmdale home, had Lancaster mail addresses.

Palmdale officials also had an audit done that stated they lost $40,000 in sales tax revenue because it was incorrectly given to Lancaster as a result of the address conflicts.

In late 1990, the Postal Service agreed to realign mailing addresses and ZIP codes, the first such undertaking since 1963. The Postal Service said the two cities agreed to have the ZIP code boundaries coincide with Palmdale's city boundary line and the boundary line of Palmdale's sphere of influence, areas that are not part of city limits but close enough that Palmdale has a say in planning decisions.

That's fine, Lancaster officials said, as long as the true borders are used - down the middle of the streets separating the two cities.

The Postal Service says it cannot split up its delivery boundaries in such a manner. However, a street can be broken up by block into one city if both cities are agreeable. The Postal Service offered that option up as a solution for the courthouse address situation.

``If everyone on the block agrees, that can be switched. We are perfectly amenable,'' Bouffiou said.

That option is viewed as inadequate because it deals only with a block and does not address concerns along the whole border, Davenport said.

While the boundary debate goes on, Lancaster has its own solution for the courthouse - it will have an address on Fourth Street West, putting it in firmly in Lancaster.