The parcel lockers outside of the Oak Bluffs post office will not return after the U.S. Postal Service had its application denied by the town’s select board this week. 

The board unanimously voted Tuesday to reject the postal service’s request to put 48 lockers along its building in Healey Square. The postal service had installed the lockers, where customers could get packages, in the square in September, but took them down soon after because the agency had not followed the proper application process, according to select board chair Gail Barmakian. 

Janine Cox, a post office operations manager for the Cape and the Islands, and Alison Maher, a retail and delivery project manager, asked to bring them back to help shorten customer wait times. 

“We would like to put 48 parcel lockers back out in front of the post office to cut down on the lines for all the PO box customers,” Ms. Cox told the board. “Over the summer, you guys are waiting on long lines. We’re trying to alleviate some of that.”

While several select board members voiced their appreciation that the post office was trying to respond to complaints, they were not convinced that this was a solution. Emma Green-Beach, a member of the board, said that when she collects her mail, she has not seen the existing parcel lockers inside the office be used.

“I now and then get small parcels, large envelopes, things like that, things that I have to wait in line for and they’ve never been put in those lockers before, whether it’s summertime and it’s super busy, or it’s Christmas-time, and it’s super busy,” she said. “I think that maybe it’s just a staffing issue.” 

Select board member Tom Hallahan also reminded the board that they had heard another proposal earlier this year to use the town property of Healey Square. The Pawnee House restaurant asked and was denied the request for outdoor tables in a portion of the square. Mr. Hallahan referenced the precedent set by that vote as a reason to deny the application.

Ms. Barmakian told the postal service employees that outdoor parcel lockers were not guaranteed to solve the issue.

“Staffing is an issue, and [the lockers] may not be utilized, so maybe it won’t correct the problem,” she said. “I don’t want to tell the post office how to run their business, but it’s also a very sensitive area.”