Kannapolis, Concord addresses confusing

Illustration on the confusion over Concord addresses for Kannapolis businesses. Graphic by Andy Mooney, Salisbury Post.

By Emily Ford

eford@salisburypost.com

KANNAPOLIS — When TLC's popular television show "American Chopper" broadcast an episode last year from Stewart-Haas Racing, the host pronounced that he was in "Concord, North Carolina."

Viewers in Kannapolis cringed.

Stewart-Haas Racing is not located in Concord but in Kannapolis, a former mill town turned biotech hub and home to the N.C. Research Campus and some 40,000 people.

But you can hardly fault TV host Paul Teutul Sr. for the mistake. It happens every day.

Kannapolis has an identity crisis.

"This is a big problem for us in a lot of ways, including from an economic development and marketing standpoint," said Karen Whichard, city spokesperson. "Many of our major employers and major industrial sites all have Concord addresses."

Whichard tells the "American Chopper" story to illustrate the problem that's plagued the city since it incorporated 25 years ago and then annexed large tracts of land assigned by the U.S. Postal Service to nearby Concord.

The addresses for several corporate gems with a 28027 ZIP code remain Concord, even though they're located in Kannapolis.

Afton Ridge shopping center, Biscayne Industrial Park, Stanley Works Distribution, Shoe Show and others list their location as Concord on Web sites and promotion materials, so people who use internet mapping sites or GPS equipment can find them.

Trade magazines regularly use Concord as a dateline for stories that are actually generated in Kannapolis.

"We often don't get credit for major industrial sites and corporate citizens in regional and national publications because of the postal code issue," Whichard said.

People assume that two large schools, Northwest Cabarrus High School and the Rowan-Cabarrus Community College's south campus, are located in Concord.

Nope.

And the Piedmont Farmers Market?

It's in Kannapolis as well, despite a Concord address.

Kannapolis will attempt to right the wrong by submitting a proposal to the U.S. Postal Service this fall.

"Our City Council over the years has invested a lot of money in the Kannapolis Parkway corridor," Whichard said. "We want people to understand that these businesses are inside the city limits."

She added, "Nothing against Concord."

Kannapolis City Planner Ben Warren said the city needs to address the issue, especially as the economy improves and developers renew their interest in vacant properties in the southern part of the city, where mailing addresses are still Concord.

Kannapolis tried in 2001 to have some postal boundaries realigned, Warren said. But the city's old post office was too small to take on the new addresses, which was the only option at the time.

Now, Kannapolis has a larger postal facility on Dale Earnhardt Boulevard.

The U.S. Postal Service revises boundaries in July each year. Kannapolis will request a change effective July 2011, if city council approves the proposal, Warren said.

The city can choose from two strategies:

- Change the ZIP code in the southern part of the city from 28207 to 28081, and change the city to Kannapolis. This would reroute mail from Concord to the Dale Earnhardt Boulevard post office in Kannapolis.

- Leave the 28027 ZIP code the same and change just the city name to Kannapolis. Mail would continue to go through Concord.

ZIP codes, not cities, determine where mail ends up, planner Vagn Hansen said.

"There are multiple acceptable city names that can be assigned to ZIP codes," Hansen said. "The post office just doesn't care. All they care about is getting the mail to the right place."

The city could propose creating an entirely new ZIP code, Warren said.

Staff will take the issue before city council this fall for input, he said.

It's not clear how many rooftops in Kannapolis have Concord mailing addresses. And the problem mostly affects businesses, not residences, Whichard and Warren agreed.

The confusion goes both ways. Some Concord businesses, like Wal-Mart and Lowe's, have Kannapolis addresses.

The economic development dilemma has become a public safety issue as well, Whichard said.

"In some areas, people don't know which fire department serves them," she said.

Utility service, garbage collection and even which mayor to call for a ribbon-cutting ceremony can be confusing, Whichard said.

The problem isn't limited to the southern part of Kannapolis.

At the northernmost tip of the city, homes in the new Club at Irish Creek development will have one of three different mailing addresses: China Grove, Landis or Kannapolis.