Several apartment communities in College Station, Texas are feeling the continued challenges of mail delivery around college campuses.
In a letter to several property managers for communities in close proximity to Texas A&M University, the postal service said it would stop delivering directly to select mailboxes in apartments they now classify as student housing. The postal service cited a section of the postal operation manual that says that “mail is delivered to dormitory buildings and residence halls when addressed to a specific building. Mail is delivered in bulk to a designated representative of the school or property, who then becomes responsible for further distribution to students and residents. Where no direct affiliation with the school is established, the Postal Service determines the proper mode of delivery to be established and may require that designees from the property be identified to accept mail for each location prior to initiating delivery.”
Property managers in the area are pushing back on the classification, stressing that they are not exclusively student housing. “Texas A&M has a current enrollment of 70,000 students, and they live all over College Station,” one apartment manager told KBTX3. “Our apartment community has elderly residents, families with children in local College Station schools, local business employees, remote employees, and yes, of course, college students. Apartment communities in College Station should not be penalized for their proximity to the university.”
The National Apartment Association (NAA) continues to support its affiliate partners in their advocacy efforts to address the industry’s postal delivery concerns.