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Harris County resident urges consistent enforcement on mailbox and roadside structures
Summary
At the April 1 Harris County Board of Commissioners meeting, resident Robert Hay asked the board to apply ordinance enforcement evenly after his neighborhood’s mailbox covers were removed while similar, heavier roadside structures remain in place.
Robert Hay, president of the Mabel Lakes Homeowners Association in Catawba, told the Harris County Board of Commissioners on April 1 that county enforcement of roadside and mailbox structures has been inconsistent and asked the board to reconsider a denial that removed covers from his neighborhood’s mailbox cluster.
Hay said his association submitted revised plans after county staff cited the county code (identified in his materials as “article 7, section 4-151”) and a court case in Milton, Georgia, as reasons the covers could not remain. “I believe that ordinances and rules should be enforced fairly and equally across the board,” Hay said, adding that the covers were designed to protect residents and postal workers and included solar lights to improve evening visibility.
Hay told the board he met with his district commissioner, Bobby Irons, and revised the design to a cantilevered structure intended to remove obstructions near the roadway. He also said he has documented similar structures — including brick and concrete mailbox supports and small safety signs — elsewhere in Harris County and has not seen comparable enforcement action taken against those installations.
Commissioners and staff discussed next steps but did not take a formal vote. Commissioner Bobby Irons and other commissioners asked staff to re-examine the Hay submission and the county files. Commissioner Andre asked county staff to coordinate a site visit and have public-works and community-development staff follow up; the board identified Brian Williams as a staff contact to develop the matter further.
Hay closed by renewing the association’s request either to allow the covers to be reinstalled (as he said is common elsewhere in the county) or to amend the ordinance to address mailbox clusters explicitly.
The board did not adopt any ordinance change or take formal enforcement action during the meeting; commissioners directed staff to review the case and contact Hay about a site visit.
