The lease on the current post office building ends in February and the owners are not willing to extend that lease.
The U.S. Postal Service needs to be out of its current building in Yampa by the end of February, which has the agency looking for a new location within the town limits where residents can pick up their mail.
The need to relocate the post office arose more than a year ago when the agency learned the current owner of the building no longer wished to rent the building to the post office. This set off a search for other commercial property in the town where it could relocate, though that is scarce in the town of about 400 residents.
This has led to several parcels in town to be identified where the postal service could construct a new building that would be roughly 1,000 square feet, could house mailboxes and offer residents a space where they could buy stamps and send packages. It would also need a section of paved handicap parking.
Robb Groetzinger, a real estate specialist for the postal service, told the Yampa Town Board on Wednesday that the most ideal spot for them would be on land that is currently part of River Park. It would be on the eastern portion of the park and would not consume all of the land that is currently parks space.
“It’s on the main drag, it seems like it’s pretty convenient,” Groetzinger said. “We could try and limit the amount of space that we take up.”
While the portion of River Park seems like the most ideal spot to the postal service and is the site recommended by town staff, there are other options as well.
Another option is known as the Corrigan Parcel, and the owners (Routt County Commissioner Tim Corrigan and his wife) are willing to site the post office there as long as they can maintain access to other land within the town limits they own behind that parcel. During the meeting, residents pointed to other potential parcels in town as well that may be available for a relocated post office, such as land used for parking next to Ladies Aid Hall and a lot that may be available on Moffat Avenue.
The new post office will likely be smaller than it currently is and be in a modular building that is largely constructed off-site and then installed.
But no matter where it ends up, the new location is expected to be temporary. The current draft of Yampa’s updated comprehensive plan identifies the postal service as a tenant in a reimagined Royal Hotel building. The historic hotel burned down in 2015 after which Routt County assumed ownership. The parcel was then donated by the county back to the town in 2021.
In the comprehensive plan the property hopes to be a commercial space for the town with multiple tenants including the postal service, though plans for that are really just an idea at this point.
Groetzinger said the postal service would continue to assess potential parcels in town for the new post office ahead of the end of the current lease at the end of February.
“I appreciate the help and I’ll be in touch with you guys,” Groetzinger said.
Top Photo Caption: The U.S. Postal Service needs to be out of its current building on Moffat Avenue in Yampa, the building with the green roof on the right of this photo, by the end of February. (Dylan Anderson/The Yampa Valley Bugle)