Larose residents still seeking postal identity

Larose, La., 70373.

It’s been an elusive address for residents of the bayou community. And last week, the Larose community renewed its request with the U.S. Postal Service for a rural route of its very own.

For years, Larose mail bearing only post office boxes have been delivered to the community’s post office. Mail listing a physical address teamed with the Larose is actually considered to be Lockport or Cut Off mail, creating confusion for those sending mail or delivering packages to Larose residents.

Last Tuesday’s meeting was yet another in a long series of talks to try to resolve the situation.

Area residents recounted mail horror stories to postal officials. They spoke of undelivered bills, insurance notices, wedding invitations and other documents other Tri-parish residents expect from standard mail delivery.

Justice of the Peace Bennett Arceneaux said on many occasions that he does not receive important documents from the Louisiana Supreme Court because his post office box mailing address is Larose but his physical mailing address is listed as Lockport. “It really confuses people mailing stuff,” he said.

Arceneaux’s plight is shared by many in Larose.

Resident Wade Fanguy, an employee of the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), said the problem is magnified when people look up residents’ addresses and see Lockport listed under Larose addresses.

For example, he said Larose Lower Elementary is listed with a Lockport address. Larose Upper Elementary School, on the other hand, has a Cut Off address.

“We need our own identity,” Fanguy said.

The confusion is further complicated with Internet searches.

“There are registered sex offenders living in Larose but when you look them up on the internet the address is listed as Lockport or Cut Off even though the physical address is really in Larose,” he said.

A fix, of sorts, may soon be in place.

According to Dave Lewin, regional public affairs manager with the postal service, said residents will be able to use Larose physical mailing addresses within 90 days. But there is a catch: Residents will still have to use the Lockport zip code.

“I don’t have a lot of background on the issue,” he said, noting that several other managers who have been following the issue were unable to attend the meeting.

“That’s the problem,” said Larose resident Thomas Guidry. “Nothing ever gets done because every time we meet, it’s always new faces we are talking to.”

Fanguy argued that Lewin’s “fix” would not really solve the problem. “We still won’t get our mail on a timely basis because of the zip code,” he said.

However, postal officials said once all the Larose addresses are coded into the system, mail would quickly reach residences.

Lewin said the next step for Larose residents is to have the zip code realigned. To do that, current physical boundaries would have to be altered, and the post office would have to study the costs associated with such a change. The adjustment could take up to a year to implement if it is approved, he said.

Larose resident Henri Boulet asked the postal officials to begin that process immediately. “We want our own rural route in Larose, not just a last line in an address with a Lockport zip code, “ he said.