Some Bowling Green residents are lashing out against a U.S. Postal Service proposal to install mailboxes and discontinue door deliveries in a city neighborhood.

But postal officials cannot force residents to change their mode of delivery. In other words, residents must give permission for postal carriers to stop bringing mail to their front door, according to the Postal Service.

“We have to have their permission, so the only thing we can do is ask,” said David Walton, USPS spokesman.

About 300 residents on Nutwood, Magnolia and Covington streets were informed last week that the U.S. Postal Service was “proposing to change delivery from your house to the curb,” according to a letter sent to residents from the local postmaster.

Residents, most of whom have always received mail at their doors, were asked to install curbside mailboxes by Jan. 15.

The wording of the letter misled many residents to believe they had no choice, said Magistrate Doc Kaelin, whose district includes those streets.

“I think a lot of people, when they received the letter from the post office, it was kind of like they had to because they were giving them a deadline,” he said. “I’ve pretty much told them it’s their choice.”

Postmaster Jennifer Doane did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Since Sunday, Kaelin has received about five calls from concerned residents. Other local leaders are now involved, including U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., he said.

The USPS operations manual encourages postmasters not to establish a mixed delivery area, which would make postal carriers “zigzag” from the door to the curb.

“Postmasters must weigh the advantages and disadvantages of converting less than 100 percent of the deliveries,” the manual says.

Additionally, owners who don’t agree to make the switch must be allowed to keep their current method of delivery. And, when a resident moves, the delivery mode cannot be changed prior to a new owner moving in. The existing delivery method must stay the same, the manual says.

The proposed change is an attempt to save money for the Postal Service, which has struggled financially due to the economic downturn and the popularity of Internet mailing.

“We’re in debt, and we’re trying to make that post office more efficient,” Walton said. “And one way to do that is to change the mode of delivery.”

Curbside mailboxes keep mail carriers from stopping, parking and walking to someone’s front door. This saves on fuel costs as well as labor costs, because it cuts the amount of time a postal carrier works. Also, it reduces the possibility of a postal worker getting injured, Walton said.

“Carriers can slip, trip and fall on properties,” he said. “No one wants change … but we hope folks will see the predicament we’re in.”

But some neighbors argue that discontinuing home deliveries would be a safety hazard for residents. Many residents are elderly and some have disabilities – it would be difficult and dangerous for them to cross the street every day to get their mail, said Cindy Ezell, who lives on Nutwood Street.

“I’m disabled and in a Power Chair. If we put (a mailbox) up the street, it’s going to be hard for me to get our mail,” she said. “They’re kind of demanding that we do it.”

Access to mailboxes is also an issue, residents say, because cars park on both sides of the street.

The neighborhood is a historic area, and many houses were built in the 1920s. Therefore, several homes don’t have driveways and residents must park next to the curb, said Ezell, who has lived in the neighborhood for 30 years.

“There’s constantly cars parked on both sides of the street,” she said, “and people fly up and down the street anyway.”