Ark. residents still stuck with Mo. addresses

When Robert Rizza retired to the Bull Shoals Lake community of Pine Branch, Ark., just south of the Missouri/Arkansas line in Marion County, Ark. three years ago, he thought the fact that his mailing address was Theodosia, Mo., was kind of funny.

"I thought it was sort of comical," Rizza said.

But he's not laughing now.

Rizza said he's faced several hurdles living in Arkansas with a Missouri address.

"It affects just about everything," Rizza said. "Driver's licenses, taxes, insurance, you name it.

"We live in a society today where just about everything you do or buy hinges on your address," Rizza said.

Rizza said he's been working for the past three years to get the U.S. Postal Service to simply correct a mistake.

"It's pretty black and white. I live in Arkansas. I should have an Arkansas address," Rizza said.

The Pine Branch area is separated from the rest of Marion County by large sections of Bull Shoals Lake.

The Ozark County Times first reported on this issue in November 2011. At that time, Ozark County was working on addressing issues for a 911 system to be put in place. Elizabeth Schaefer a Washington D.C.-based manager of USPS delivery services, said then that she anticipated the USPS would assign residents in Rizza's area Arkansas mailing addresses that could be delivered through the Theodosia post office.

But that never happened.

Instead, Rizza says, the USPS sent a survey to "active mailboxes" in the Pine Branch area. The survey asked if residents wanted to change their mailing address to Pine Branch, Arkansas, and be given a new ZIP code or if they wanted to keep the Theodosia, Missouri, addresses. A majority didn't want the changes.

"I think they said one or two more people voted to keep it the incorrect way," Rizza said.

"I have no idea why somebody would want to keep an incorrect address," Rizza said. "But that's beside the point. They should have never asked anybody. They should have just corrected the error."

Now, Rizza said his only option is to try and get his story out. He's created YouTube videos of himself telling his story and has contacted national media outlets in hopes of getting some publicity. "It's kind of like a David vs. Goliath thing," Rizza said.