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Postal move infuriates Breckenridge residents

ROBERT ALLEN
summit daily news

BRECKENRIDGE – The U.S. Postal Service’s plan to move its Breckenridge satellite to Towne Square Mall at 100 N. Main Street has agitated many residents who feel the decision was made without understanding how it would impact the post-office box users.

“The nincompoop that made that decision needs to come out here and stand out in the open and tell us, the people of Breckenridge, what a good decision it is,” resident Del Bush said. “Whoever made the decision needs to come up here and face the music.”

Parking is the primary concern, for home delivery isn’t available in Breckenridge.



With no street-side parking available immediately in front of the new site, most users will likely park in the Courthouse lot across an alleyway behind the mall. The site’s proximity to the center of town could mean frequent traffic frustrations for box users during ski season.

The existing satellite off Park Avenue near City Market offers on-site parking. It has a capacity of 1,000 boxes and serves about 800 users. The new site is to be a bit larger and offer potential for more services; it’s also closer to the main post office.



Resident Richard Himmelstein has started a group for folks opposed to the move on his website, http://www.reachpeople.com.

“It’s just a shame for them to try and push us into a very congested space with limited parking and total frustration,” he said.

More than 20 people have signed onto the group, and if he can get the number over 600, Himmelstein says he’ll seek legal input on how to delay the move.

“Truly my hope is that they’ll reconsider their move to that location. As I kept saying: It’s illogical,” he said.

He’s offered to invest in development of a new, consolidated location for the Breckenridge Post Office. Many have complained about parking problems and inefficiency at the primary post office on Ridge Street.

With the Postal Service closing on its property transfer this week, residents are left with limited to no options. Bush and Himmelstein have contacted the offices of U.S. Rep. Jared Polis and both U.S. senators.

Bush compares the situation with the closure of Dillon Dam Road over the dam last year.

“This is just another example of someone down on the Front Range making decisions affecting the lives of people up here – and apparently not having a clue about how it does affect us,” he said.

Officials with the Postal Service have said the financial situation of the national organization – which doesn’t receive revenue from taxes – affected the decision to sell the 2.75 acres of real estate. The Postal Service is about $9 billion in debt.

Elsewhere in Colorado, other communities are feeling the impact of the USPS’s financial crunch. In Westminster (pop. 107,000), the Postal Service planned on closing a branch that had been in use more than 60 years and consolidating it with the main office nearly 5 miles away.

As of Wednesday – after petitioners gathered more than 2,500 signatures in opposition – the USPS announced the closure would be delayed at least a year. Some 66 postal buildings statewide have been targeted for possible consolidation to cut costs, as reported in the Denver Post.

For Breckenridge, cluster boxes may be the most viable alternative for folks who don’t want to deal with the new Main Street location. Himmelstein said USPS consumer affairs manager Lisa Roberts told him surveys will be distributed to determine whether folks would be interested in having clusters of about 80 boxes in neighborhoods.

Roberts did not return phone calls from the Summit Daily on Wednesday.

The Postal Service intends to have the move complete by mid-October.

Robert Allen can be contacted at (970) 668-4628 or rallen@summitdaily.com.


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