By Cindy Schroeder
The Cincinnati Enquirer

CRESCENT SPRINGS - Neither rain nor snow nor sleet will stop delivery of the mail, according to the U.S. Postal Service creed, but parking in front of a mailbox can.

After nearly a dozen complaints since summer, Crescent Springs has become the latest Kentucky city to ban on-street parking that interferes with mail delivery.

In 1992 and 1994, the Northern Kentucky cities of Taylor Mill and Edgewood prohibited parking within 10 feet of a mailbox, and the town of Prospect, a suburb of Louisville, also bans drivers from parking "in front of or otherwise obstructing any private or U.S. mailbox."

Crescent Springs' amended parking ordinance, which takes effect Dec. 11, prohibits parking "in such manner as to impede the delivery of mail by the U.S. Postal Service."

Violators are subject to a $25 mail-in citation on the initial offense, but police have been instructed to warn first-time offenders, said City Attorney David Schneider.

After three offenses in one year, the fine for each occurrence goes up to $50.

"It's not a violation to park in front of a mailbox," Mr. Schneider said. "An individual could park there after the mail's delivered. The violation would be to park in such a way as to impede the delivery of mail."

Federal regulations allow carriers to skip a mailbox if something is blocking delivery, said Bonni Manies, spokeswoman for the Cincinnati District of the U.S. Postal Service.

"It's not because a carrier's lazy," she said. "A letter carrier has maybe 500 deliveries a day. Maybe that takes only one (extra) minute (to reach a blocked mailbox) but if you multiply that by 500, that adds up."

Crescent Springs Police Chief Mike Jansing said the police department sought the change after warning letters failed to deter motorists from interfering with mail delivery.

"Most of the complaints were from the older section of town where the houses are smaller and the cars are more abundant than they used to be," the police chief said. He added one complaint involved motorists who parked in front of mailboxes clustered together at the entrance to a new subdivision off Amsterdam Road.

Mayor Claire Moriconi said Crescent Springs officials also thought now was a good time to make the change, as they recently agreed to make Horton Street one-way from Western Reserve Road to Buttermilk Pike, a change that will require moving all of the mailboxes to the same side of the street.

"This isn't going to exclude someone from parking in front of their own mailbox," Chief Jansing said.

"The police department is not going to act upon (the amended ordinance) until we get a complaint. And if we do get a complaint, we're going to try to warn the individuals first and let them know there's a new ordinance."

E-mail cschroeder@enquirer.com