Photo by Lexi Coon.
Damian Salazar, postal service realty specialist, speaks at a packed public hearing on May 10 about the relocation of the Mountain Brook Village post office.
The United States Postal Service held a public hearing on May 10 to discuss a relocation of their Mountain Brook Village office, and residents who attended the meeting wanted one thing to be made clear: that the office would not be leaving the village.
“The overall goal and the purpose of this and the reason I’m here is to keep the post office in this community,” said Postal Service Realty Specialist Damian Salazar. Salazar said per company regulations, they are required to hold a public meeting to allow for community input and feedback if the post office is at any time changing locations.
He, along with the state’s Manager of Operations and Program Support Jeff Reeves, Postmaster of Birmingham Mike Allison and Manager of Customer Service Operations for Birmingham John Richardson led the meeting to let the community know what would happen to the Mountain Brook Village post office and to answer any questions or concerns.
The Mountain Brook Village post office location — which currently resides at 2701A Culver Road — will be relocating temporarily to the Crestline post office location at 3900 Montclair Road this June in order to make way for construction for the second phase of Lane Parke.
Those who have P.O. boxes at the Mountain Brook Village location will not change their addresses, but the boxes will be moved to the Crestline location and those who use the boxes will be given new keys. No addresses will change. Both clerks of the Mountain Brook Village location will move to the Crestline location, too, and Salazar said they will be adding another service window to help with traffic.
Salazar said they are currently looking for another location, which is required by company regulations if they are not moving back in to the exact same storefront, but the district gave certain boundaries where the new location could be.
Salazar said they are prohibited from doing “sole sourcing,” or looking at just one new site, so they are looking for a space that meets the post office’s requirements of an approximate 3,200 square-foot building and 39,000 square-foot site (0.89 acres) as well as 24 parking spaces.
“If we’re not moving back into the exact same space that we are at right now, we have to give everybody an opportunity to provide whatever sites that they have,” Salazar said.
The preferred boundaries are listed as south of Jemison Lane, north of Lane Park Road, west of Montevallo Road and east of Cahaba Road — which effectively puts the boundaries around where the current post office sits.
Should the boundaries of the location search change, Salazar said they will have to hold another public hearing to allow for additional community input. If there aren’t other options to serve as a new location for the post office, Salazar said the current landlord is willing to consider the post office as part of the planned redevelopment.
As of right now, Allison said the Mountain Brook Village post office is planning to start relocating its P.O. boxes on June 18 and P.O. box operators should get a letter in their box to notify them of changes and how to get a new key. Retail will be open after the boxes are moved, but the location will close on June 30.
Salazar said after the public hearing there is a 30-day comment period that is open to the public and people are encouraged to send their comments or concerns to him at the following address:
Damian Salazar, Real Estate Specialist Facilities Implementation
U.S. Postal Service
P.O. Box 667180
Dallas, Texas 75266-7180
The letters will then be mailed to the company’s headquarters where they will be reviewed by the vice president of facilities before a final decision is made, Salazar said. All comments must be received by June 10 in order to be sent to the headquarters.
Salazar said the two options for a final decision at this point can be to stay in place, which is not feasible due to planned construction, or to relocate. He again said that if they are unable to find another location that will meet the requirements of the post office and the needs of the community within the preferred boundaries, it is possible that the post office would be part of the redevelopment of that area.
A final decision is expected June 15 or 16. The second phase of Lane Parke is planned to be completed in August 2019, and Salazar said the post office would need an additional six months or so before opening a new store. This would put a reopening around February 2020.
Although many questions were answered, many citizens also took the time to thank Salazar and the postal service — more specifically, the Mountain Brook Village post office — for the friendly and “extremely helpful service” they have contributed to the community over the years.
