CHARLOTTE NC — The Postal Service will send surveys to residents who live in the community known as Catawba Heights and have a Belmont address with a ZIP Code of 28012 to determine if they would like to change their mailing address to Mount Holly NC 28120.

Mount Holly Mayor Robert Whitt asked that the Belmont mailing addresses be changed to Mount Holly. Postal Service policy is that municipal requests are followed up with surveys so that residents have the final input in determining the mailing address to be used.

The surveys will be sent to residents and businesses annexed by the City of Mount Holly in the area that includes the 700 block of Cason Street, east to the Catawba River, south to the Interstate 85 Interchange, north and west along the current Belmont – Mount Holly ZIP Code boundary.

Belmont Abbey College and any addresses currently annexed by Belmont in the Catawba Heights community west of Belmont Abbey will not be affected.

If the majority of residents returning the surveys vote to change the last line of their mailing address from Belmont NC 28012 to Mount Holly NC 28120, the change will be granted. The Postal Service will then send notification of the effective date of the change. All residents in the affected area would then be required to use Mount Holly NC 28120 as the last line of their mailing address, even if they did not vote for the change.

“Customers are encouraged to complete the surveys,” said David C. Fields, Sr., District Manager for the U. S. Postal Service’s Mid-Carolinas District. “Surveys will be mailed to residents on February 28. The majority of surveys received will determine the outcome, so it is important that residents voice their opinions,” said Fields.

If the Belmont mailing addresses change to Mount Holly, customers will pick up packages and respond to left mail notices at the Mount Holly Post Office, 806 West Central Avenue, instead of the Belmont Post Office.

If the survey votes result in the change being made to Mount Holly, mail addressed to residents using the Belmont name and ZIP Code 28012 will continue to be delivered as addressed for one year. Residents having stationery with the current Belmont name and ZIP will have up to one year to change the stationery to reflect the new address. Magazines and most periodicals will automatically update the address change.

If the survey votes result in the mailing address change to Mount Holly, Postal Service officials will work with State, County and City officials to ensure they are notified of the address change for utility bills, tax bills, and other mailed documents. Additionally, Postal Service officials will notify Duke Power, AT&T and other utility companies to make the transition easier for customers.

Items such as driver’s licenses and library cards are normally changed at the time of renewal and do not require updating due to a ZIP Code change.

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An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that visits every address in the nation — 146 million homes and businesses. It has 37,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses, not tax dollars. The Postal Service has annual revenues of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail.