Fight over mail delivery leaves some Asbury Park residents searching for lost items
Residents say there is a dispute between the USPS and the developer over how mail is delivered.
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There’s an attractive new development of townhouses in Asbury Park that’s turning heads for the improvement it has made in the neighborhood.
It’s gaining tenants but there’s one frustrating issue for those living in those homes that sit on Springwood Avenue. The local post office won’t deliver mail to their homes.
The Asbury Park Post Office has told these residents that their address doesn’t exist. Much of their mail and packages sent through the United States Postal Service are missing.
Residents have been told it’s because of a dispute between the post office and developer “Interfaith Neighbors.” The post office wants a cluster of mailboxes, not door-to-door delivery as residents expected.
The mayor’s office tells News 12 New Jersey that the cluster of boxes is difficult for the developer due to a lack of space. But residents just want their mail and feel they’re being mistreated by the post office.
Laura Padilla moved into the development with her husband in December.
“It’s kind of a mess. Basically, we don’t know what’s happening with our mail,” Padilla says.
They’re not getting mail in the box at the door and when Padilla has asked at the post office, she says she isn’t’ told much.
“Things that we’re expecting are missing,” she says.
In one instance, she tried to track a package she was expecting at their new home.
“And it said on the tracking, ‘Return to sender’ three hours after they had tried a delivery attempt and now, they don’t know where the package is at all,” Padilla says.
It’s much the same for neighbor Karen Levin.
“The developer suggested I get a post office box,” Levin says. “At the Asbury Post Office, the size box I would need is $742 a year.”
Levin says the post office has been unresponsive and says the whole issue is a joke.
“The people who owned the home that we’re in told me that they had used her mother. They hadn’t used that address ever. They used her mother’s address for all of their mail,” Levin says. “When I decided to move to Asbury Park, I didn’t think the mail would be the thing I’d be fighting over.”
Some of these residents now have important mail and packages sent to the address of a co-worker or relative.
City officials tell News 12 they are trying to work out a way to get in a cluster box for these residents.
A spokesperson for the USPS wrote in a statement, “Clusterbox units (CBUs) have been the standard mode of delivery for most new home developments for approximately 15 years. CBUs offer numerous advantages, including increased mail security and delivery efficiency.
When new home developments are built, developers are expected to follow the regulations concerning CBUs outlined in the Developer’s Guide for Centralized Delivery, which the Postal Service makes available for developers. Also, developers are expected to consult with the local Postmaster or local postal management when determining the location of CBUs to ensure the boxes can be safely accessed.
The Postal Service makes every attempt to deliver the mail, but mail must be delivered to a mailbox. Mail delivery cannot take place to these addresses since CBUs have not been installed by the developer. In such cases, the Postmaster has made arrangement so those customers to pick up mail at the local Post Office. We thank customers for their understanding.”
