Apollo Beach residents rally to keep hometown mail facility open

Residents push to keep hometown mail facility open

Apollo Beach residents are hoping to keep their hometown mail facility from shutting down in September and they began circulating a petition to keep it open. Ariel Plasencia reports.

APOLLO BEACH, Fla. - Apollo Beach residents are hoping to keep their hometown mail facility from shutting down in September and they began circulating a petition to keep it open.

"This is a homey little hometown thing, and we have less and less of those things as the development occurs around us," Traci Lovelace, who started the online version of the petition, told FOX 13. "So I'd like to keep the spirit of the community, and I'd like to not have to drive for half an hour to buy stamps or whatever."

The petition is titled "Keep the Apollo Beach post office open!" 

It reads: "Contract will terminate at the close of business on 09/30/2025. An appeal has been made to the United States Postal Service Corp Offices. Congresswoman Kathy Castor has also been notified.  Now we need the community's voices to help by signing this petition or contacting your Congress or Senate representatives."

"Honestly, the post office is like, as American as you can get," Apollo Beach resident Gina Venditti, who signed the petition, said. "Why are we closing the post office when we have more people coming to the area?"

Dig deeper:

The Apollo Beach CPU is not a post office, a USPS spokesperson told FOX 13 Wednesday. 

When FOX 13 asked why the Apollo Beach CPU was closing, USPS replied with, "CPUs can provide communities with expanded access to postal services, but they are not operated by the Postal Service. In all instances, CPU agreements may be terminated by either party upon 120 days’ written notice. In the case of the Apollo Beach CPU at 219 Flamingo Drive, Apollo Beach, FL 33572, the Postal Service determined that nearby postal facilities are able to serve the community.  The closest Postal Service-operated retail facility to the Apollo Beach CPU is the Gibsonton Main Post Office which is 5.6 miles away at 11126 S US Highway 41, Gibsonton, FL 33534."

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What they're saying:

But residents told FOX 13 that other USPS locations aren’t convenient, especially as the Ruskin facility remains closed due to hurricane damage. 

"Or Riverview, which is going to be probably 30 minutes (driving)," Apollo Beach resident Elizabeth Diaz said. "It used to be five minutes, you know. That's how much it really has overgrown here."

Pointing to all the growth and development in the area, residents argue they need their hometown mail facility more than ever. 

"I think with the post office, it can do things others can’t," Venditti added. "I actually went to UPS first thing before (coming to the Apollo Beach CPU) because they're close to my house, and they couldn't ship what I wanted."

Local perspective:

Residents spoke very highly of the woman, who runs the Apollo Beach CPU, and said the customer service inside this facility can never be replaced. 

"You just get to know her, and she'll do anything for you in there," Diaz said. "It's that good community connection that we have (had) for years."