The Cortez Post Office is sticking around.
An agreement to keep the Cortez Post Office was reached, as confirmed by landlord John Banyas in a Nov. 29 call with The Islander. The agreement came as an extension to Dec. 1 was about to expire and close the office open on the heels of an October eviction.
“We reached an agreement where I’m happy, the post office is happy and the residents can be happy,” Banyas told The Islander.
The dispute
On July 28, three days before the post office lease would expire, the Cortez facility received a notice that its lease would not be renewed.
The post office did not vacate, becoming a hold-over tenant, staying on the property despite the lease’s expiration.
On Sept. 21, Banyas filed a complaint to have the USPS evicted and Oct. 6 a notice of removal was filed with the court.
In an area without home delivery, locals would have faced a commute west, over the Cortez Bridge to access the Bradenton Beach post office, or drive east on a 3-mile trip to the Cortez Shell post office.
Do residents mobilized to keep the office open or receive home delivery.
A campaign to reach out to U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, yielded some success.
On Oct. 22, Buchanan’s office said it negotiated an extension to keep the post office open through November.
The agreement to keep the post office open on a renewed five-year lease was reached after the USPS agreed to include Banyas in the USPS’s insurance plan.
In 2020, Banyas was sued after a flagpole fell and injured Richard C. Kiley, court records show. Banyas argued the injury suffered by Kiley was due to a failure of the USPS to properly maintain equipment, which violated the terms of the lease. When the post office refused to add Banyas to its insurance policy, the owner decided not to renew the lease.
