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Ventura County residents will get a chance to speak their minds about a proposal to split the 805 area code during a public hearing at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Ventura City Hall, 501 Poli St. The
area code currently covers Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties and the southern part of Monterey County. Without a change, the 805 area code--Ventura County’s code since
1957--would run out of numbers in about two years. The state Public Utilities Commission has three options: allow Ventura County to keep the 805 code and remove the other counties; give
Ventura County a new code and leave the other areas with 805; or approve a so-called overlay, which would add another code without geographically dividing regions. Business and government
officials have complained that a new area code would force the purchase of new business stationery, signs and cards. The Ventura City Council has joined the county and other municipalities
in writing letters to utility officials, asking that this area keep the 805 area code. The Ventura Chamber of Commerce is encouraging businesses to do the same. Wednesday’s hearing was
called by the North American Numbering Plan Administration, which makes decisions on area code splits for the PUC. For more information, contact the California Public Utilities Commission at
https://www.cpuc.ca.gov or the North American Numbering Plan Administrator at https://www.nanpa.com. MORE TO READ