No mail delivery? Homeowners say USPS hasn’t delivered their mail for weeks in ongoing dispute

GRANGER, Ind. (WNDU/Gray News) - A problem is affecting dozens of homeowners in a Granger community when it comes to getting their mail.

People living in the Woodford Trails community say they haven’t gotten mail delivered to their door from the United States Postal Service since June 1.

The USPS is making regular trips to the subdivision, but out of 109 lots, only four homes are considered grandfathered in and are currently receiving mail on the route.

That means homeowners like Ryan Foreman are having to make a trip to the post office to collect their mail.

According to Foreman, he was receiving mail from the Postal Service directly in his mailbox for nearly two years until the start of this month.

“I noticed on our Ring doorbell camera that the mail truck was just driving by our house for several days in a row. And I thought, oh, no. And then that Saturday, I had a package that was expected to be delivered. And when I checked the tracking, it said that the customer had requested it be held at the post office, which I did not request,” Foreman said.

Foreman added he spoke to the postmaster about the situation, where he was told that he would not be receiving mail anymore because of a dispute and a request to put in a cluster box unit.

The unit is considered a one-stop delivery method, like something seen in an apartment complex. But the president of Adams Road Development, which created Woodford Trails, David Eckrich, says the community did not sign up for one.

“In 2021, there were three neighborhoods that were developed in the Granger area. We’re one of the three. We’re the only ones who have received this letter and are being asked to have these cluster mailbox units installed,” Eckrich said.

Eckrich says his team at Adams Road Development did not design Woodford Trails with a CBU mail delivery system in mind.

“We have no common area in the front. So if this cluster mailbox unit is going to be in the front, where you can reach it from the curb, it has to be in front of somebody’s home,” Eckrich said. “We spend a lot of time and effort to create what we call curb appeal. So to then throw all that away and have the first thing you see when you walk up to a home is this big metal box. It takes all that away.”

According to the Granger postmaster, the USPS established a policy in 2012 that requires all new developments to use a centralized delivery system.

However, Eckrich notes that the Postal Service did not inform his team about the change until years after construction began at Woodford Trails.

“If you adopt a rule back in 2012, and you don’t tell anybody about the rule, and then you wait for someone to put in all the infrastructure and then try to enforce something, meaning that it’s a square peg in a round hole. It doesn’t fit,” Eckrich said.

Meanwhile, the office of Indiana Congressman Rudy Yakym said it has been in communication with USPS over the dispute.

“We are actively working with USPS to ensure parity in the enforcement of the Delivering for America postal guidelines,” Griffin Nate, district director for the congressman, said. “We are in communication with USPS headquarters on this matter and hope to reach a resolution that is suitable for the developer and residents of the community.”

The entire statement received from the USPS regarding the situation can be read below:

“It has long been the policy for homeowners or developers to request and receive advance approval of the delivery location and mode of delivery from the local postmaster or designee.

The Postal Service follows the National Delivery Planning Standards Guide for Builders and Developers, which requires all new developments or phases of development to use centralized delivery. The purchase, installation, and maintenance of mail receptacles are the responsibility of the customer/developer. Appropriate location for installation needs to be approved, in advance, by the Postal Service.

The Postal Service is proud to serve the American public and fulfill our Universal Service Obligation to provide mail delivery to all areas of the country. We look forward to a speedy resolution from the developer to establish centralized delivery to our Woodford Trails customers."