Norton Announces 7 D.C. Post Offices off Closure List, New Hearings for 2, and List of Expiring D.C. Post Office Leases

Norton Announces 7 D.C. Post Offices off Closure List, New Hearings for 2, and List of Expiring D.C. Post Office Leases

December 8,2011

WASHINGTON, DC – After writing the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to request an update on the status of all District of Columbia post offices, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) has confirmed that seven of the 19 D.C. post offices on the USPS Expanded Access Study List are no longer being considered for closure. USPS has determined that the facilities at Brightwood, Ford Station, Lammond-Riggs Station, Longworth Station, Pentagon, Techworld, and Temple Heights are "not viable for closure."

"As we predicted, the published list of post offices for study was preliminary, and now nearly half have been effectively removed from the list," said Norton, a senior member of the committee and subcommittee with jurisdiction over USPS. "We will keep at it until we get the same result we achieved two years ago, when none of the D.C. post offices on the preliminary list were closed."

In addition, to ensure that closings are not related to the expiration of leases, Norton requested and has received a list of six District post offices with leases expiring in the next year. USPS is finalizing the lease for one of those offices, Benning Station. The other five offices with leases expiring are the T Street Station (Feb. 29, 2012), Chillum Place Columbia Heights (May 16, 2012), Anacostia Finance Station (Aug. 4, 2012), Southwest Station (Dec. 31, 2012), and Palisades Station (Dec. 31, 2012). Norton says District residents must have convenient access to postal services and she will continue to insist that USPS finds new locations in the neighborhood before leases expire so residents are properly served without interruption.

The Postal Service also has agreed to Norton's call for new hearings for two post offices on the USPS Expanded Access Study List. Norton requested new public hearings after her office received complaints from residents about the timeline and location of the meetings. The notices for the Georgetown 20th street office (between M and N Streets) went out late, affording many residents little advance notice, as some notices did not reach residents until the day of the meeting. The Kalorama post office (2300 18th St.) is located in Ward 1, but Councilmember Jim Graham and constituents called Norton's office about the location of the public meeting, which was held in Ward 3 at the Cleveland Park Library because of the unavailability of space on the scheduled date. USPS officials acknowledged that these irregularities would have affected resident turnout, and have agreed to plan an additional public meetings for each of these post offices.

Norton emphasized that even for post offices on the Expanded Access Study List, the timeline for review and study is fairly long and complicated, ensuring no closings in the immediate future. The process includes sending out questionnaires to residents, holding public meetings, issuing notice of a proposed closing with a 60-day public comment period, and significant internal evaluation between each step. A final decision to close a facility is also subject to appeal to the Postal Regulatory Commission. Norton continues to insist that if there must be closings, neighborhood post offices should be spared over those located in federal buildings.