Recent visitors to the Montecito Country Mart on lower Coast Village Road may have noticed something new: large signs and stickers asking visitors to sign a petition to “Save Our Post Office.”

The mart — a Town and Country-style retail center with restaurants and other shops — has launched a fight against the impending closure of its United States Postal Service contract postal unit.

USPS has notified the mart that it plans to shutter the postal unit in four months, mart owner James Rosenfield told Noozhawk.

Contract postal units, also known as CPUs, are operated independently from USPS, often inside supermarkets and drug stores. They offer basic USPS services and are open for longer hours than traditional post offices. 

Retail space owners like Rosenfield have contracts with USPS to operate the postal units.  

Retailers pay their own employees to operate them and receive a percentage of revenue; if the postal unit sells a $1 stamp, for example, the mart gets 9 cents, Rosenfield explained.

Nearby retailers also often benefit from the increased foot traffic a postal unit brings.

Under the contract, 120 days’ notice is required if the retailer or USPS wants to close the unit. 

The postal unit currently located in the Montecito Country Mart has been in that area since 1987. It was first located near the area’s Starbucks under another retailer operator, which folded.

Rosenfield took over the postal unit contract over a decade ago. The unit is now tucked inside the Montecito Country Mart’s Trading Post, which also offers canvas totes, bags, and other general store merchandise.

Rosenfield launched online and written petitions last week after he received notice of the closure, asking community members to support keeping the postal unit open. 

As of Friday, that petition has received more than 1,000 signatures, he said.

A USPS spokesperson provided Noozhawk with an emailed statement similar to one given to another news outlet that had inquired about the closure of their local postal unit. 

USPS spokesperson Meiko Patton said USPS has the right to close units in areas where nearby USPS-run Post Offices exist.

“Doing so enables us to continue to fulfill our commitment to serve our communities through USPS-operated retail facilities,” Patton said. “(…) In the case of the Montecito Country Mart … USPS determined that nearby Post Offices are available to serve the community.” 

In response to a follow-up email, Patton said: “That’s the only statement we are releasing.”

The nearest USPS-operated facility to the Montecito Country Mart is the Santa Barbara Milpas Post Office on 107 Nopalitos Way in Santa Barbara. There is also one in Montecito’s Village Shopping Center at 1470 E. Valley Road, Suite H, and another at 836 Anacapa St. in Santa Barbara.

But Rosenfield argued Santa Barbara’s Post Offices are too far for Montecito’s elderly residents and those with mobility issues. 

He said he loses money operating the postal unit, but it’s worth it to provide that community service.

“I’m not trying to make money,” he said. 

He also said having the postal unit on lower Coast Village Road is good for the retail businesses; people come to handle their mail or buy stamps and stay to eat or shop.

“It’s a service that brings everyone down,” he said. “It’s very personal to me, and I think it’s very important to the community.” 

Rosenfield said he wanted to thank everyone who has signed the petition. He plans to present it to the USPS postmaster general and the Santa Barbara postmaster.

“I think it’s really important when people speak and say, ‘This is a service we enjoy.’”

Those signatures of support include Santa Barbara Mayor Randy Rowse’s.

He told Noozhawk he signed the petition because “postal substations represent part of the fabric of a neighborhood.”

“While I understand the financial decisions by USPS, folks would rather not have to trek downtown, find parking and do what they used to be able to do in their own neighborhood for postal services,” Rowse said in an email Friday night.

He added: “The fewer car trips for consumers, the better, so I do support the continuation of this service, the convenience and human element it provides.”