WHATELY — Come Jan. 1, all addresses in Whately will be unified under ZIP code 01093.

At last year’s annual Town Meeting, residents approved a citizen’s petition submitted by Town Clerk Amy Lavallee to request the U.S. Postal Service consolidate the town’s four ZIP codes – 01093 in central Whately, 01039 in West Whately, 01373 in East Whately and 01066, which touches parts of Whately’s southern residences – into just one, 01093.

Lavallee announced the plan at last week’s Selectboard meeting, as she reported USPS representatives from Washington D.C. were ready to move forward whenever the town is.

“They’re on board, they said pick a day and we can go live,” Lavallee said, adding she originally had a tentative launch date of August, but will ask the Postal Service to push it back to the end of the calendar year. “I want to make sure all of our ducks are in a row.”

Once the ZIP code change takes effect, residents will have a one-year grace period to change their addresses with utility providers, businesses and other services.

The Selectboard agreed with pushing the change back to Jan. 1, as member Fred Baron noted that while there will be a 12-month grace period for residents and businesses to change their addresses, it could cause some unnecessary chaos in the weeks leading up to the holidays.

ZIP (Zone Improvement Plan) codes were developed by the U.S. Postal Service and introduced in July 1963 as a way to make mail delivery easier. As an internal system to help USPS manage more than 160 million mailing addresses, ZIP codes are not bound by town borders and are designed with efficiency and costs in mind, according to a USPS spokesperson.

“Because ZIP codes are often not aligned with municipal boundaries, millions of Americans have mailing addresses in neighboring jurisdictions,” USPS spokesperson Amy Gibbs said in 2023. “The Postal Service is aware of the growing use of mailing addresses and ZIP codes for various non-postal purposes and the problems that result from this practice.”

Whately has been exploring the ZIP code change since 2023, when a handful of town officials brought the proposal forward, citing a litany of issues that could be fixed if the town had just one ZIP code.

Examples of issues in recent years include packages delivered to a corresponding address in Deerfield and dozens of Deerfield excise tax bills ending up in Whately.

Emergency responses are also sometimes twisted up in ZIP codes, as Fire Chief JP Kennedy said at 2024’s Town Meeting that the first caller reporting the Rainbow Motel fire in Whately that year described the emergency happening in Deerfield because the motel lies within Deerfield’s ZIP code.

The main focus has been on South Deerfield’s 01373 ZIP code, which also serves a large portion of Whately, including both communities’ River Road, as well as, ironically, Whately’s own Town Offices at 4 Sandy Lane.

While the petition was approved at 2024’s Town Meeting, resident opinions on the matter at a summer 2023 forum were close to an even split, with opponents saying the change may have unintended consequences or that they have never had an issue.

A ZIP code change will not change the flow of mail in the region, as Whately mail will still be processed through the South Deerfield Post Office on Sugarloaf Street, but residents will be able to put “Whately” in their address line.

Additionally, the process has been undertaken by other towns in Franklin County, with Leverett consolidating four ZIP codes into 01054 in 2003.

With the process moving forward, Lavallee said the town will be able to assist residents that need help with the change.

As Jan. 1 approaches, she will distribute flyers informing residents of the change, create a dedicated support channel for questions, offer technical help and then troubleshoot residents’ issues in the post-transition period. The South County Senior Center has also agreed to help residents with changing their addresses.

“We will be working with the Post Office to make sure residents who aren’t sure how to do it or may need help can get that help,” Lavallee said. “I really, really want to be as supportive to our residents and staff as possible.”

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.