{"id":25303,"date":"2014-09-06T07:52:05","date_gmt":"2014-09-06T11:52:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.21cpw.com\/?p=25303"},"modified":"2014-09-06T14:38:48","modified_gmt":"2014-09-06T18:38:48","slug":"knightdale-nc-preps-for-usps-central-mailbox-mandate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.21cpw.com\/knightdale-nc-preps-for-usps-central-mailbox-mandate\/","title":{"rendered":"Knightdale, NC preps for USPS central mailbox mandate"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/i><\/a><\/span>\n<\/i><\/a><\/span>\n<\/i><\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Greystone

Greystone at Widewaters has several mail hubs around its community that houses residents’ mailboxes. Under a new United States Postal Service rule, subdivisions will have to use a similar setup.<\/p><\/div>\n

(September 5, 2014) KNIGHTDALE \u2014 Town leaders are looking at ways to fulfill new requirements from the United States Postal Service while trying to avoid major inconveniences for residents and residents-to-be.<\/p>\n

Because of a change mandated by the USPS, subdivisions are now required to have central mailbox locations so postal workers do not have to go to individual homes.<\/p>\n

Knightdale amended their Unified Development Ordinance last week to set requirements for mail kiosks in subdivisions \u2013 spaces in recreational areas or clubhouses residents will have to use to retrieve their mail.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying our best to work with people so there isn\u2019t any more individual mail service,\u201d senior planner Jennifer Currin said.<\/p>\n

The change was not the town\u2019s decision, but a 2013 decision from the USPS, which suspended individual home deliveries in subdivisions.<\/p>\n

The USPS asked that towns and developers create those mail kiosks to cut down on the number of places postal workers have to stop.<\/p>\n

Knightdale edited its UDO to make sure builders and developers had a clear understanding of what was and wasn\u2019t acceptable, although senior planner Jeff Triezenberg said it was difficult to write too much detail into the UDO, because the USPS has been slow to give them explicit answers on what is acceptable.<\/p>\n

Currin said they are working with some subdivisions already to find appropriate areas to build the kiosks, which must be sheltered, according to the town\u2019s UDO amendment.<\/p>\n

The \u201ccluster mailbox unit shelters,\u201d will have to consider short-term parking spaces as well. Taking cues from Cary, which has been working on switching to the cluster mailboxes, subdivisions would have to provide as many as eight parking spaces, depending on its size.<\/p>\n

Working with town subdivisions<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Some residential communities in the town, like townhomes at Widewater, already handle mail with central kiosks.<\/p>\n

But council members became concerned with the new requirement when planning staff told them the upcoming 800-home subdivision Knightdale Station opted to consider having only one mail location.<\/p>\n

Knightdale\u2019s local postmaster told the town it could easily fit on the side of the planned YMCA in Knightdale Station, but the USPS is also open to providing mail centers in each phase of the project rather than one location for all 800 units.<\/p>\n

The actual decision for Knightdale Station will come later, during site design, Triezenberg said. At that point, planning staff can help developers decide what would work best for the community.<\/p>\n

And even though the town must comply with the USPS\u2019s new requirements, Mayor Russell Killen made it clear he thought it would make create more problems than it will solve.<\/p>\n

\u201c(The USPS) has condemned part of the land to be high volume postal areas,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Other towns gearing up for change<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

And while Knightdale waits to see what Knightdale Station developers will decide to do, Wendell is already moving forward with some plans for Wendell Falls, a development five times bigger than Knightdale Station.<\/p>\n

Wendell Planning Director David Bergmark said the development company is thinking about using smaller units that line sidewalks in the first three phases of the 4,000-home development.<\/p>\n

Most of the space was already divvied up for other uses, so Bergmark said it would have been hard to find a lot to build a separate building. It is an option for later phases, he said.<\/p>\n

While Zebulon hasn\u2019t had too much discussion about the requirement, planning director Mark Hetrick said it could be a positive or negative change, depending on who\u2019s being asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can see how some people will like it, mainly the postal carrier folks who it will make deliveries easier for,\u201d Hetrick said. \u201cI can see where citizens who like front-door delivery to their house and where security and access and convenience to them would come up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neither Wendell or Zebulon has immediate plans to incorporate new requirements into their development guidelines.<\/p>\n

The new rule would not impact existing developments, but it would impact ongoing projects which have not yet been built out.<\/p>\n

via KNIGHTDALE: Knightdale preps for postal service change | Knightdale | EasternWakeNews.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/a><\/span>\n<\/i><\/a><\/span>\n<\/i><\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(September 5, 2014) KNIGHTDALE \u2014 Town leaders are looking at ways to fulfill new requirements from the United States Postal Service while trying to avoid major inconveniences for residents and residents-to-be. Because of a change mandated by the USPS, subdivisions are now required to have central mailbox locations so postal workers do not have to…<\/p>\n

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