ALTAMONT— The Post Office project referenced by a mailer that recently landed in the mailboxes of thousands of residents located in the 12009 ZIP code is related to the Altamont village center development proposed by Jeff Thomas, he says.

The mailer is asking recipients to weigh in on a new Altamont Post Office, stating, “Because of a space deficiency, USPS proposes moving to a building of approximately 6,000 square feet with 30+ parking spaces within the preferred zip code 12009. The proposed new facility will maintain the same level of service and eliminate the space constraints at the current facility.”

The proposed relocation, according to USPS spokesman Mark Lawrence, “would eliminate operational space constraints and improve parking.”

The last day for public comments — which are to be mailed to USPS at Post Office Box 27497, Greensboro, NC 27498-1103 — is Jan. 31. 

The new facility proposed by Thomas, who owns the mid-century building currently leased by the postal service, would be located behind that, adjacent to the Altamont Free Library, on the current site of a fire-suppression company.

The mailer had raised questions in part due to how little information it supplied but Thomas told The Enterprise on Tuesday, “It’s our project.”

Thomas said, “They didn’t alert me that they were doing it, but that’s our project.”

Lawrence wouldn’t confirm the mailer was referencing only the Thomas proposal because “sometimes our Facilities team has multiple locations pending,” but he did not elaborate on other locations and in response to a follow-up email said, he had said he had “no further information at this time.”

The mailer itself specified only that the new facility would be within the 12009 ZIP code, which stretches well outside the village borders.

The USPS in an email to The Enterprise did not specifically address whether it was the Thomas proposal being referred to in the mailer. 

Thomas is looking to build at 120 Park Street:

— A 6,000-square-foot post office building;

— A 4,200-square-foot, two-and-a-half-story mixed-use building with commercial space and six residential units;

— A two-story building with six residential units; and

—  A 1,200-square-foot community center.

Thomas had made a proposal for his 1.6 acre parcel at the center of the village six years ago, which raised concerns about traffic, water and sewer, and stormwater management. Late last year, the village’s zoning board raised similar concerns about Thomas’s current proposal.

The current post office is about half the size of the proposed facility, Thomas told The Enterprise this week, adding “A lot of people want to know why we’re not putting it in the old Key Bank,” another building he owns across Park Street from the current mail facility. 

The former Key Bank building, Thomas said, “is the same size as the existing post office.”

Another question Thomas said he’d been fielding is how long will the Altamont facility be closed. 

“It won’t be closed at all,” he said. “The new Post Office will be built out back, behind where the fire extinguisher company is.”