MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WTVF — A Mount Juliet homeowner said he’s still waiting for answers about his mail — years after moving into his home.
Instead of mail being delivered to his house in the Saddle Ridge subdivision, Antoinne Ferrell said he and his neighbors are forced to drive to the post office to pick it up. He said the issue has dragged on for years with no clear timeline for a fix, prompting him to reach out to NewsChannel 5's Aaron Cantrell for help.
In Saddle Ridge, mailboxes line the street — ones Ferrell and his neighbors installed themselves.
“Everyone has had theirs up for almost two years now, just sitting there,” Ferrell said.
But Ferrell said they don’t check them because the mail never comes.
“About a year, a year and a half, two years, we started to figure out we’re not going to get our mail or mailbox anytime soon,” he said.
Next month will mark five years, Ferrell said, of him and his neighbors driving to the post office to pick up their mail.
“We live near three school zones, so having to leave your house, battle through traffic, drive 10 or 15 minutes, stand in line, and come back home to do it all over again is very, very frustrating,” Ferrell said.
Ferrell said homeowners were initially told the U.S. Postal Service would install a centralized cluster mailbox kiosk for the subdivision, but that plan stalled. Later, he said residents were told they could install individual mailboxes so delivery could begin — only for service to stop again.
Now, Ferrell said the developer and USPS have drafted an agreement to move delivery forward, but it still hasn’t been finalized.
“In early December, we met with the postmaster again and were told, ‘We’re signing some paperwork — you can put your mailboxes up, and we’re going to start delivering,’” Ferrell said. “I went to the garage, put it up, and still no mail.”
The developer and HOA president, Michael Smith, said USPS changed its delivery policy after the subdivision was approved, requiring a centralized kiosk rather than individual mailboxes.
Smith said installing a kiosk in a future phase of the development required additional approvals tied to sewer capacity issues, causing delays. He said USPS later agreed to resume delivery, but the paperwork sent contained errors and did not include all homes in the subdivision.
While paperwork and approvals continue, Ferrell said homeowners are paying the price.
“There were things coming from the state we didn’t know we owed, and we had to pay late fees for that, knowing they were already delivered to the post office,” Ferrell said.
Ferrell said he’s been told there may be two mailboxes per post moving forward, but he would prefer to be grandfathered in and keep his own mailbox.
Smith said at no point has the developer restricted mail delivery in Saddle Ridge, adding that all homes are located on a public right-of-way. He also notes that mail is delivered to individual mailboxes without issue in the adjacent Paddock Place community.
For Ferrell, the situation has become exhausting.
“When I bought this home, I never thought a mailbox would be the biggest question mark,” he said. “We’re asking questions, trying to find answers — and we just want our mail.”
This story was reported by Aaron Cantrell and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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