USPS Delivery to ADU

[Hunter Smith]

Has anyone succeeded in getting USPS to deliver mail to an ADU?  I can't find clear instructions anywhere online about whether this is possible or how to do it.  The ADU in question is on an (unnamed) alley behind the house. 

It may be that the first step is to try to get the DC government to assign an address, but I have no idea how (or whether they will even do it).

[Liz Scheier]

Hi Hunter, 

I went through this when registering my basement ADU for a new address. It took many calls and trips to various post offices before finally finding the team that can resolve this, so I am delighted to be able to share it and spare someone else the legwork and swearing! 

USPS address management team: 301-754-1702 or 1703

Good luck!

Liz

On Tue, Jan 11, 2022 at 9:19 PM Hunter Smith <davidhun...@gmail.com> wrote:

Has anyone succeeded in getting USPS to deliver mail to an ADU?  I can't find clear instructions anywhere online about whether this is possible or how to do it.  The ADU in question is on an (unnamed) alley behind the house. 

It may be that the first step is to try to get the DC government to assign an address, but I have no idea how (or whether they will even do it).

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[Ileana Schinder]

Because USPS follows property ID, the location and shape of the ADU may condition how you label your mail.

For example, for basements with doors facing the street, it's easy to label it as "apt b" and have it's own mailbox.

For ADUs that are in the rear (garage or other structure) you may need to put 2 mailboxes next to each other easily visible from the street for the mailman to drop of mail on the porch. 

You can choose to ID your own ADU as "casita" or "apt X" as far as the person receiving the mail uses consistent information easily readable in the mailbox.

Simply put, there is no legal requirement on how to split the mail for single family homes with ADUs. Get creative! :)

ile

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[Ileana Schinder]

Another option is to start a neighborhood effort to name alleys. this is a long effort but it may pay off. If you have many ADUs, it will probably succeed. Until then, USPS will only deliver mail to the front of the house.

I hope this helps,

ileana, the architect

On Tue, Jan 11, 2022 at 9:19 PM Hunter Smith <davidhun...@gmail.com> wrote:

Has anyone succeeded in getting USPS to deliver mail to an ADU?  I can't find clear instructions anywhere online about whether this is possible or how to do it.  The ADU in question is on an (unnamed) alley behind the house. 

It may be that the first step is to try to get the DC government to assign an address, but I have no idea how (or whether they will even do it).

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[Hunter Smith]

So, to get delivery on an alley, first DC has to name the alley, and then USPS will deliver to it?  How do you get DC (or a neighborhood) to name an alley?  Is there someone in the DC government in charge of such things?

[Cheryl Cort]

FWIW - if you have an alley lot (not an ADU on your property), you have no choice but to get it named by the DC Council if you want to build on it.

It might be the case that to get mail delivery for an alley-facing ADU, seems like you might also need to name the alley. 

ADUs, which are living units with the shared address of the principal dwelling in the R zones, but if you have a separate alley lot you want to build on, it requires a named alley. And possibly an alley name would be the way to get alley mail delivery.

We did a tour of alley lot projects 2 years ago found alley naming to be a big hurdle. Requesting an address and requiring majority support of the surrounding properties can become an additional hurdle to alley lot development even after a by-right or BZA case has been approved.  Addressing is also a problem with pulling permits on a new or existing alley lot.  (e.g. if an existing building/structure does not have an address recorded in the DC Master Address Repository a building permit cannot be filed with DCRA to even repair the existing structure).

We've suggested looking at a bill to do alley naming en masse. Alley naming process can be made more efficient - en masse naming (i.e. OP with Department of Preservation; the Historic  Preservation Office currently has a list of existing or previous names for 30’ wide alleys) or naming by Ward - possible Ward task forces for alley naming. Alley naming should address alleys 15’ or wider.

https://dc.curbed.com/2018/4/4/17192210/alley-dc-name-columbia-heights

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[Jim P]

So it seems that one can request (and have a reasonable chance of having it accepted if other parameters are good) a zoning exception to the requirement that owner must live on site to use/rent an acc dwelling as an accessory dwelling. Right?

Thanks,

Jim

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[Cheryl Cort]

I’d say under exceptional circumstances you might have a chance at the BZA but it is not permitted under the zoning regulations. 

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