Area Code 805’s Number Is Almost Up, Officials Say

The 805 area code is getting a little cramped. In two years, it will be full, and something will have to give.

Before the rapidly growing area code--which includes Ventura County, Santa Barbara County, the majority of Kern and San Luis Obispo counties, and the northern end of Los Angeles County--runs out of new telephone numbers, it will be split geographically, officials said Thursday. The change is largely due to the explosion in demand for second lines, modems, fax machines, cellular phones and pagers.

A new area code--whose digits or area have yet to determined--will be introduced to portions of Central and Southern California by 1999. Some in the 805 area code will keep it while others get a new one.

A telecommunications group consisting of representatives from more than 30 companies is evaluating options for the breakup, according to a PacBell spokesman.

“The split will likely be an east-west split,” said David A. Dickstein. “But who keeps 805 is still up in the air.”

Every area code can accommodate 7.9 million phone numbers. Area code 805 now serves 5.1 million telephone numbers, but it is growing at an annual rate of 800,000 numbers.

Customers will have some say on where the lines are drawn, officials say.

Public meetings will be critical because there is no obvious core, as there have been in other areas that divided in recent years. For example, when the 213 area code split in 1991, downtown Los Angeles kept it.

Phone company officials say they try to do what will cause the least inconvenience to consumers.

City officials and business owners in northern Los Angeles County greeted the news of the proposed area code change with mixed reaction Thursday.

“The 805 area code goes all the way to Santa Barbara and beyond. . . . It seems kind of weird to me that we all have the same area code so I guess it makes sense to split it,” said Mary Price, owner of Best Books in Lancaster. “But it will mean an expense for whoever has to change. For example, we’d have to buy new stationery. If it wasn’t for that, I don’t think I’d mind.”

In Santa Clarita, Mayor Clyde Smyth said he understands the need to create an area code, but he hopes that his city will not end up with two area codes.

“What I would not want to see happen is to see the Santa Clarita Valley split with a line running up the Interstate 5,” Smyth said. “There needs to be continuity in the community.”

Smyth said if his city does get a new area code, he hopes that it will be one with carefully picked numbers that will be easy for residents and owners to use.

“You always want to keep what you have,” Smyth said. “Everybody is going to say, ‘Change the guy next to me. Everything is fine. Just leave me alone.’ ”

Times staff writer Julie Tamaki contributed to this story.