Knox County — Builders at a new housing development in Hardin Valley are making some big changes at the request of the U.S. Postal Service.
Residents at Laurel Ridge subdivision are annoyed at the fact that they just bought a new home thinking they would have a mailbox outside. Because of a U.S. Postal Service request, builders put a halt to new mailbox construction, and they soon have to take out the ones they already put in.
John Anderson and his family recently moved into a new house in Laurel Ridge. As he was setting up his house he noticed something was missing.
"If you've ever bought a house, you know the most exciting thing is when you see your mailbox and your address...but it never showed up," Anderson said.
Anderson and his neighbors were told the U.S. Postal Service decided that having mailboxes outside of every house wasn't practical. Now they have to drive or walk to a cluster-style mailbox at the bottom of the development.
"In my case, I'm the last house on the street and my mailbox is at the very front of the neighborhood. I have two kids and one of the beauties of that is to tell them to get the mail. Now, they have to go down the street through construction to do that," Anderson said.
The Postal Service said they're approaching the cluster boxed on a case-by-case basis and it's a more fiscally responsible way to deliver mail.
While Anderson never had a mailbox, several other homes did. Builders now have to deliver the news to homeowners that the boxes will have to go.
"I guess it's one less thing to run into when I pull in," Anderson said.
He said it's annoying to have to walk down the street, but he gets it.
"It's like a double-edged sword. It's a big inconvenience for me, but I kind of get it from the Postal Service's standpoint," he said.