Expansion plan approved for Adelphia post office
BY TOYNETT HALL
Staff Writer

HOWELL - The quaint Adelphia post office on Wyckoff Mills Road is known for its curbside service.

The post office employees never had enough room to tackle an ever-present mountain of mail, in addition to serving a long line of customers who waited outside for assistance.

A unanimous vote by Planning Board members on July 19 has changed that reality. The Adelphia post office has been granted preliminary approval for expansion.

According to a letter from Van Note-Harvey, consulting engineers to the United States Postal Service, the project at the Adelphia post office calls for "982 square feet of needed building space to the rear of the existing structure, a facade sign, utility connections, minor grading and landscaping."

"The project proposes no additional pavement or walkways and does meet the maximum impervious coverage requirement. It does not impact country roads or drainage facilities," according to information provided in the letter by Kent L. Scully, senior project manager of Van Note-Harvey.

According to Postmaster Nichelle Renaud, who has worked at the post office for 21 years, the planned expansion is well overdue.

"We work on top of each other. We have customers who come in and they stand out on the sidewalk because there is no room in the building for them," Renaud said

Renaud said business tends to fluctuate, but she noted that a change of operating hours at the Howell and Farmingdale post offices has led to more customers at the Adelphia branch.

"The Howell post office recently changed their hours of operation for the convenience of their customers from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. So now our business between 7:30 a.m. when we open and 10 a.m. when they open has increased quite a lot," Renaud said.

Pauline Smith, a former member of the Planning Board, said the space to be added at the Adelphia post office is well deserved. As Smith said, "If you stay around and visit and pass the time for a couple of minutes, you find yourself yelling across people."

Before the board members gave their approval, Planning Board Attorney Ronald Cucchiaro recommended that the applicant make whatever effort it can in order to maximize parking in the area of the post office.