Tales of woe emanate from both sides of First Street N. UPS, at least, plans to home in more precisely through GPS.
By ANDREW MEACHAM
Published December 7, 2003
ST. PETERSBURG - Pamela Leavy needed a UPS package badly enough in November to have it sent overnight and marked "urgent."
A freelance writer, Leavy said the package contained documents for a story she was working on about prescription drugs, plus a check reimbursing her for expenses. The package arrived at 121 20th Ave. NE the next day. Only one problem: Leavy doesn't live there. The package wound up in a trash container on the other side of First Street N.
Though she eventually got it back, Leavy, 55, said the incident was not the first time deliverers of everything from packages to pizza have confused her address at 121 20th Ave. N for addresses in the 100 block of 20th Avenue NE, and vice versa. "This could have been very damaging," she said.
Her story is not unique to those living on either side of First Street N, where many pairs of addresses differ only by the "N" or NE" at the end.
Adela Smith has had wine and Christmas presents delivered to her home at 126 16th Ave. NE instead of to the corresponding address on the west side of First Street. The similarity also confuses contractors working on the house Smith and her husband are remodeling next door.
"They'll say, "I came by, but you weren't there!"' said Smith, 42. "I'll say, "Did you come to Northeast?' And they'll say, "Oh."'
Workers for a roofing contractor showed up one morning at George Bothwell's house at 110 20th Ave. NE. Bothwell, 31, said he was happy to greet the roofers - especially considering the repair job was across the street at 110 20th Ave. N. Bothwell said he has been mistakenly visited by plumbers as well, and received wrong packages from UPS and FedEx. He has even received items intended for 110 20th Ave. SE.
City planners aren't sure exactly when "NE" made its way into addresses, but suspect it followed the massive dredging and landfill projects of the 1920s. Before that building boom, Snell Isle, Shore Acres, Albert Whitted Airport and much of the area now called NE did not exist.
"The waterfront street was First Street," said Bob Jeffrey, a manager of historic preservation, who checked the original maps to make sure. "That was sort of the primary street. Of course, a lot of infill has created everything from Beach Drive down to North Shore. But it's really because the city was such a small area when it was originally platted."
Houses standing before the 1920s tended to split up north and east in their addresses - "Say, 202 E Second Ave. N" - said historic planner Rick Smith. "And then sometime, it may have been in the '20s or afterward, they started appending the NE number to it."
When Leavy's overnight package did not arrive, she contacted UPS. A supervisor found that the package had been left on the front porch at 121 20th Ave. NE, on the other side of First Street. Marla Cunningham saw that the UPS package was not hers and left it on the porch. But by the time Leavy contacted her, the package had disappeared.
Cunningham, 42, who shares the porch with a tenant, said she thought the package might have been thrown away by mistake. She searched a trash container behind her residence and found it, much to Leavy's relief.
Couriers acknowledge that their drivers sometimes make mistakes. But representatives insist that their companies are doing the best job they can.
Both UPS and FedEx have a policy of never rotating drivers from their designated routes. And in January UPS will begin launching an upgraded version of the hand-held computers delivery drivers use, company spokesman Norman Black said.
The new DIAD ("delivery information acquisition device") includes a built-in Global Positioning System that would prevent a mixup of the sort that happened to Leavy. With the new system, Black said, "Before he could even get to the door of that house, the GPS would tell him, "You're in the wrong place."' At the same time, he said, UPS handles 13.3-million packages a day and is not foolproof.
Though residents appear to blame private couriers such as UPS and FedEx more, the U.S. mail gets its share.
"I've had people say, "I sent you an invitation to a party,' and I say, "I didn't get it,"' Leavy said. "You just don't know if you're getting your mail."
Meetings
AZALEA: 7 p.m. Thursday. Azalea Recreation Center, 1600 72nd St. N. Officer elections.
BARTLETT PARK: 6 p.m. Thursday. Frank Pierce Recreation Center, 2000 Seventh St. S. Open forum.
CAMPBELL PARK: 7 p.m. Wednesday. Campbell Park Recreation Center, 601 14th St. S. Annual Christmas fellowship.
CHILDS PARK: 7 p.m. Monday. Childs Park Recreation Center, 4301 13th Ave. S. Year-end wrapup; preparing for recognition of city staff and others.
DISSTON HEIGHTS: 7 p.m. Tuesday. Community Covenant Church, 4501 30th Ave. N. Officer and board elections, Christmas social. Bring a dessert to share, donation to CASA.
EAGLE CREST: 7 p.m. Wednesday. St. Petersburg Catholic High School cafeteria, 6333 Ninth Ave. N. Holiday party, covered-dish extravaganza. Singing by Evolution, an award-winning barbershop quartet.
EUCLID HEIGHTS: 7 p.m. Tuesday. First Alliance Church, 5000 10th St. N. Year-end reports, planning for 2004. Also holiday social. Bring small gift to exchange, a nonperishable food item to share.
HIGHLAND OAKS: 6 p.m. Thursday. James B. Sanderlin Center, 2335 22nd Ave. S. Open forum.
MEL-TAN HEIGHTS: 6 p.m. Tuesday. Brister Temple Church of God, 2901 18th Ave. S. Crime Watch also 6 p.m. Bring covered dishes; Christmas dinner after meeting.
NORTH EAST PARK: 7:30 p.m. Monday. North East Park Baptist Church, 3737 First St. NE. Rick Adkins, county's consumer protection expert. Also collecting food and cash donations for charity.
NORTH KENWOOD: 7:30 p.m. Monday. Edward White Hospital Auditorium, 2323 Ninth Ave. N. Officer elections; Christmas dinner party. Bring a dish to share.
OLD SOUTHEAST: 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Bayboro House, 1719 Beach Drive SE. Annual Christmas party; also traffic calming plans for 22nd Avenue S.
THIRTEENTH STREET HEIGHTS: 4 p.m. Thursday. Enoch Davis Center, 1111 18th Ave. S. Holiday gathering.
WILDWOOD HEIGHTS: No meeting. Christmas party 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, 2727 14th Ave. S.
