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14 Planning October 1998
<br /> • PL AN N I NG
<br /> P R A C T I C E
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<br /> New York's Pennsylvania Station Redevelopment Corporation hopes to incorporate fragments of the old station in
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<br /> its$315 million conversion of the old General Post Office, the Farley Building,into a new terminal.Both Penn
<br /> Station,demolished 35 years ago, and the 84-year-old post office were designed by McKim,Mead&White.
<br /> It's important to note that The procedures lay out aare doing their best to respond tential relocation do?"The best
<br /> in Postal Service terminology, timetable for notifying local to community desires.In many action,"Smith says, "is always
<br /> a "closing" means elimination elected officials,explaining the instances, he says, the local preventive."Make sure the lo-
<br /> of a post office. The actions project at a public meeting, postmaster"wants a brand-new cal postmaster knows how im-
<br /> that have stirred protests in soliciting community response, building,"but the service ulti- portant the post office is to the
<br /> Madison, Tully, Washington, presenting the decision to lo- mately works out waivers of downtown's vitality and be
<br /> Hartwell, Ball Ground, and cal officials,and attempting to parking requirements or other aware of the need for more or
<br /> most other locales are not establish "a partnership with issues so that the existing fa- different space.
<br /> considered "closings." They local officials." cility can be expanded rather Planners,Smith emphasizes,
<br /> are "relocations" or "consoli- than relocated. "Our first can play a key role in negotiat-
<br /> dations," and thus not cov- What you can do thought is to stay in the down- ing solutions that will meet both
<br /> ered by the moratorium. While the Postal Service's ini- town," he says. the community's and the Postal
<br /> Another sign that the Postal tiatives over the past year and Kennedy Smith of the Main Service's needs."Sometimes this
<br /> Service is responding to its a half are positive steps, crit- Street Center favors the legisla- involves accommodating larger
<br /> critics is an item in the May 7 ics like Tully's Scott Chatfield tion proposed by Blumenauer, delivery vehicles, providing
<br /> Federal Register. The an- say they don't go far enough. Jeffords,and Baucus."The Postal more on-site parking,or chang-
<br /> nouncement of"39 CFR Part Legislation is needed to codify Service must follow specificregu- ing a one-way street to two di-
<br /> 241, Expansion, Relocation, siting decisions,Chatfield says, lations for closing a post of- rections."Sometimes it involves
<br /> Construction of New Post Of- particularly since the Postal fice," she notes. "This legisla- splitting the retail and distribu-
<br /> ices"describes new procedures Service has claimed that it need tion would create a similar set tion functions or moving into
<br /> notifying local citizens and not comply with President of regulations for relocating a larger facilities elsewhere in
<br /> ublic officials about facility Clinton's 1996 Executive Or- post office." Sorenson counters downtown—perhaps in a va-
<br /> projects and for soliciting corn- der 13006, which encourages that this requirement could slow cant or underused warehouse,
<br /> munity views. Postal officials federal facilities to be located relocation or expansion projects department store, or industrial
<br /> say they expect to incorporate in central cities. to a crawl. building.
<br /> the procedures into official Sorenson, at the Postal Ser- What should planners and But the Postal Service also
<br /> policy this year. vice,insists that postal officials others concerned about a po- has an obligation to take lo-
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