Still in the tent: Leland and Winnabow USPS continue operations outside amid population boom

As Brunswick County’s population continues to grow, post offices across the county are struggling to keep up with the mail.

Last year WWAY reported that Leland’s USPS had been partially operating out of a tent for years to handle the demand. A year later, that tent is still up. And Leland isn’t alone.
The Winnabow post office also installed a tent outside of its building several years ago. Longtime resident Glen Kye says growth has put a strain on the post office.

“Whenever you are jamming people up to where you can just about put your arms against one another that’s one reason this post office is not as big as it is,” he said. “There’s just too many people coming in here for the facilities capacity.”

Kye says the parking lot is also too small and wonders why the post office hasn’t moved into a larger space.

“What disturbs me is I wonder where in the world all the money is going,” he said. “The postage just keeps going up and up and service keeps getting less and less.”

Donna Bonasera recently moved to Winnabow from Pennsylvania and shares similar concerns.

“There staff is great but the building is small and we see a lot of mail and basically yeah we feel like this post office needs a new building and bigger parking lot,” she said.

WWAY reached out to USPS regarding both the Winnabow and Leland facilities. USPS provided a statement saying:

“In communities with significant population increases, it sometimes becomes necessary to install non-permanent structures to increase space for our operations while we’re still in a lease. Since Leland and nearby areas have experienced recent population growth, we plan to examine our options when leases approach their expiration, including whether to remain at the current location or find another facility suitable for operations. We are truly appreciative of the efforts our employees make to serve customers whether at the retail counter or while delivering mail and packages to every home and business each day. We also thank customers for their continued support.”

USPS did not answer our question as to when the leases are up for renewal. The town of Leland said USPS also postponed plans indefinitely for a new post office.