Cluster mailboxes replacing curbside delivery in core area, new developments
These temporary mailboxes at Elm Avenue and Third Street will soon be replaced by Cluster Box Units as the first phase of the core area project moves along. Jamie Hult/BV Journal
These Cluster Box Units at Aspen Harbor, one of Brandon’s newer developments, are similar to the mailboxes that will be placed in phase one of the core area this summer to replace curbside delivery.
Grey, lockbox-style mailboxes will soon be a staple in the core area of Brandon and all new housing developments in town.
The mailboxes, known as cluster box units, will be installed in the central part of town this summer as phase one of the core area reconstruction continues.
“All new developments have to be CBUs for efficiency,” explained Brandon postmaster Kelley Lehfeldt. “It’s nicer. They have lock boxes.”
Increasing efficiency isn’t the only reason the USPS and city are bringing in more cluster box units to Brandon. CBUs discourage mail theft, offer an outgoing mail slot and come with complete anonymity; residents’ names and addresses don’t appear on the boxes.
“They’re way more secure,” said city engineer Tami Jansma. “Each one of these boxes has a parcel locker on it, so they’ll be able to lock up their packages, instead of just putting them by the front door. If the package is too large for the parcel box, they will still deliver that to their door.”
CBUs are the future of mail delivery, Lehfeldt said, and you can already spot them in neighborhoods around town, like the Sandstone and Aspen Harbor developments.
Consolidating mail delivery into one big hub of mailboxes also makes for a “greener” experience, according to the USPS website.
“‘Community mailboxes’ offer the greatest amount of fuel savings and carbon emission reductions because carriers can deliver mail to multiple customers during a single stop with less truck idle time,” states the website. “Increasing the use of centralized delivery for new and existing customers helps the postal service create ‘greener’ neighborhoods across the country.”
Brandon’s core reconstruction project includes adding sidewalks, which means residents’ old curbside mailboxes would have to be relocated anyway. In the interim, before the CBUs are brought in, homeowners are getting their mail from a row of temporary boxes along Elm Avenue.
“In the next month, everybody in our project area will have a temporary box at Third and Elm,” Jansma said.
And the two streets that already have new asphalt – Cardinal and Robin drives – will get their CBUs first.
“The post office will hand all of those out and coordinate with all those homeowners on getting their box set up,” she said. “CBUs should be here in the next couple of weeks … There’s really not much of a disadvantage to them.”
In addition to the security, efficiency, anonymity and eco-friendly perks, CBUs may also help to reduce neighborhood traffic, trips to the post office, dog bites, identify theft and snow removal efforts.
CBUs are conveniently located within walking distance of homes, too, and in compliance with the American Disabilities Act regulations.
“It’s happening everywhere – every new community,” Jansma added. “All the new developments in Sioux Falls. When we’re going through and doing these reconstruction projects, we’re moving everything up to current standards. The sidewalks. The streetlights. Even mailboxes.”
Only one apartment will be impacted by the project, Lehfeldt said, and the CBUs are located next to it.
“Most apartments already have CBUs or centralized boxes in their buildings or outside their buildings,” she said.
