U.S. Postal Service selects Harbeson Post Office site

A long-awaited location for a new post office in Harbeson has been selected.

Ray Daiutolo, of United States Postal Service communications, said a ground lease has been signed with the owner of a parcel at 18865 Harbeson Road.

First, the parcel must be rezoned to commercial. Property owner Harbeson Farm Revex LLC has filed a rezoning application from AR-1, agricultural-residential, to B-2, business community, for the .8-acre parcel approximately one-half mile south of the Route 9 intersection. The small parcel is currently a corn field.

Commercial zoning is required to place any type of business, including a post office, on the parcel.

A public hearing before Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled for 6 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 12, and before Sussex County Council at 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 22.

The Harbeson Post Office closed Dec. 29, 2018. Located in a small, strip shopping center at the intersection of Route 9 and Harbeson Road, the building was torn down to make way for a new Royal Farms convenience store, which opened Aug. 16.

The 200 Harbeson post office box holders have been forced to travel to the Georgetown Post Office to get their mail.

During a meeting last November, a post office official said the process to get a new post office operating should take less than six months. If the rezoning is approved, it could be more than a year from the closing date to the opening of a new post office.

Residents were told during the November meeting if existing building space is not leased, post office officials can place modular post offices in rural locations.