Post office in Gearhart gets reprieve

Jasmine Lewin, The Daily Astorian, Ore.
Updated ·2 min read

GEARHART — A new contractor has signed with the U.S. Postal Service to preserve the unit on Pacific Way that was scheduled to shut down at the end of April.

The contract postal unit has over 700 P.O. boxes. Customers had been told in late March that their P.O. boxes would be moved to the Seaside Post Office a few miles away if a new contractor could not be found in time.

Post office

The post office in Gearhart has over 700 P.O. boxes.

Kristina Uppal, a Postal Service spokesperson, confirmed Friday that the Gearhart location is expected to resume service but did not provide any other details.

“It was difficult to find a solution,” said state Rep. Cyrus Javadi, a Tillamook Republican who advocated for the unit along with city, state and federal officials. “The community was very upset.”

Javadi said he believed it was necessary to put pressure on the Postal Service to identify a new contractor and award the contract. He said the contract has been awarded to Kim Morgan, who has experience running a similar business.

“I don’t know how long it normally takes,” Javadi said. “But from the looks of it, it was about a three-week process that was kept under wraps just to make sure that the contract went according to all the rules and regulations that are in place.”

City Councilor Dana Gould said she has been told it would be “business as usual” this week.

“I think a lot of the credit for getting it resolved so quickly should go to our engaged community, councilors and city staff,” she said in an email to The Astorian. “We all worked in concert to make the community’s wishes known.

“I am extremely grateful to Representative Javadi, Congresswoman (Suzanne) Bonamici and Senators (Ron) Wyden and (Jeff) Merkley. Their bipartisan support helped us all remain positive while we worked through this issue.”

Some residents and city leaders have sought to have greater access to home mail delivery and a Gearhart ZIP code.

Gearhart shares a ZIP code with Seaside, and many residents who live on the east side depend on the Seaside Post Office for delivery rather than the P.O. boxes downtown. The divide has prompted some to campaign for a Gearhart ZIP code to avoid confusion and improve accessibility.

“Many people don’t understand how hard it is to navigate in this modern Amazon culture without a physical address verified in the United States Postal Service database,” Gould said.