Longs’ wait is over: Groundbreaking set for new post office two years after fire

Two years after a fire forced the closure of a U.S. Postal Service branch in Longs, dirt is set to be turned on a new facility.

The unincorporated community in northern Horry County has been without a branch since the summer of 2021, forcing users to travel between nine and 14 miles for in-person service.

A June 26 groundbreaking ceremony at 50 Highway 9 East will kick start construction that’s expected to take up to a year — much to the relief of federal and state lawmakers who have been pressing the U.S. Postal Service.

“Myself and (state) Rep. (Kevin) Hardee have been pushing this for the last two years. It’s been a challenge for us to get the federal attention we need to get this thing to progress,” state Rep. William Bailey, R-Little River, said.

Bailey provided The Sun News with a string of emails shedding light on why it’s taken so long for work to begin.

“I worked to get all the state and county permits approved as quickly as possible. Everything was expedited. Then at the eleventh hour, the postmaster general decided that they should build a larger building. A building that probably won’t fit on that lot. All plans and permits started again from scratch,” Hardee said in a March 12 email to a constituent.

Shortly after the fire, a mobile unit was set up for people to collect their mail, but it ran on limited hours. The property also became an eyesore, as no maintenance was conducted and grass grew up to four feet high.

Bailey said that deterred some people from visiting over health and safety concerns. Bailey posted several images on his Facebook page showing tall grass and unkempt conditions near the mobile spot.

Officials worked through much of the spring to secure state and local permits, emails provided by Bailey show.

“We had all been hammering everybody, and I think it just finally came together,” Bailey said.

County land records show that a storm water permit for the property was issued on Dec. 2, 2022, with a commercial permit for a 6,132-square-foot building still being reviewed.

U.S. Rep. Russell Fry, R-7th District, also got involved in the process.

In April, he sent a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy asking for an estimated completion date and why Longs area residents have had to wait so long for a new office, then questioned him a month later during a U.S. House Oversight subcommittee meeting.

“Do you know of any instances other than Longs, S.C. where offices have been destroyed and not rebuilt in a timely manner,” Fry asked DeJoy.

DeJoy said “there’s a long, long list of things we need to fix. I have $7 billion in deferred maintenance, and we also didn’t have money in 2020, but I’m glad it’s under lease and we’ll see if we can move it along.”

American Postal Infrastructure, a private company that owns more than 670 USPS facilities nationwide, is managing the Longs site.

“The postal service benefits communities very much like traditional essential infrastructure. For me, it’s up there with schools, police and fire,” said Tim Asta, the company’s vice president of development and strategic initiatives. “It is the lifeline to rural communities for packages, for medicine, for financial obligations.”