Many Pinehurst residents and business owners are fighting the reduction of window operating hours at the downtown village post office.

The window hours were cut back from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. to 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, effective Monday.

Postmaster Denise Krise announced the change in hours during a recent Pinehurst Village Council work session. She cited a 30 percent decline in workload from last year.

Despite her assurances that there were no plans to close the office, many residents and business owners are concerned that the reduction in hours is simply a harbinger to the eventual closing of the century-old post office.

"To narrow it down to three hours is just nonsense and what we think is a precursor to closing it," business owner Tom Stewart said.

He argued that the post office brings some 800 residents into the village center each day, and if it is closed, that business would be lost.

"If you take this away from the village, you can't get it back," he said.

Stewart said a grassroots movement has caught fire in recent weeks, with about 800 residents signing a petition asking that the post office extend the hours, increase staffing and improve service. He said that so far, about 90 to 95 percent of those asked to sign the petition have complied.

Fellow business owner Richard Shearer authored the petition. He said there has been a "serious deterioration" of service at the downtown post office over the past few years. He said the clerks are "outstanding," but constraints have been placed on them to the point where they are unable to offer service "everyone else in the country receives."

Like Stewart, Shearer said that the post office is the economic engine of the village.

"It's a necessity of life in a small Southern town that attracts an international clientele," he said.

Shearer is one of the many business owners in the village core who doesn't receive home and business delivery and is forced to pay for a post office box. He frequently ships items from the facility, and said long lines have become common now that only one clerk works the window.

The leaders have enlisted the help of the Pinehurst Business Guild and Congressman Howard Coble.

Business Guild President Patrick Barry said his organization voted at its last board meeting to take a stand to keep the post office open for longer hours.

"I think it's a very important meeting place in the village, and I think it's vital to keep it open," Barry said by phone Wednesday.

Ed McDonald, Coble's chief of staff, confirmed by e-mail Wednesday that the congressman had been contacted and met with a group of residents and business owners who have expressed frustration with the situation.

McDonald said that Coble is in the process of contacting the mid-Carolinas regional director in Charlotte to inquire about the reduction in hours and whether or not the postal service would reconsider the plan. Coble plans to contact the group once he receives an answer.

He added that Congress actually has very little direct supervision of the Postal Service, as it is a semi-autonomous governmental organization.

The petition is also expected to be presented to the Pinehurst Village Council at their work session Tuesday morning.

Krise said Wednesday that she was unaware of the petition campaign and had not received any complaints. She said she spoke at the council work session in February to prevent any misinformation from being spread. She emphatically denied that there were any plans to eventually close the office, saying there were "absolutely none."

"I have assured everyone that there is no plan in the near future at all to close it," she said. "We've communicated that to everyone. No one has indicated there is a problem to me."

Enola Rice, a spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Service Mid-Carolinas region, said that like every business, the Postal Service has been hurt by the recession, with revenues and mail volume both down. A national evaluation process of the Postal Service's 32,000 post offices is under way, and many locations are experiencing a reduction in hours.

"The Postal Service as a whole is taking steps to cut costs," she said.

Rice said that the Postal Service is encouraging customers to do business on its Web site, www.usps.com. For those in Pinehurst who do not have home delivery, they will have to go to the village office during its operating hours or go to the larger office in Pinehurst South off N.C. 5.

"We have to make decisions that will help us maintain our business," she said.

But Shearer remains "guardedly optimistic" that the window hours of the downtown post office will be increased. He said that he and others will continue to fight on.

"It ain't over until we say it's over," he said.

Contact John Krahnert III at 693-2473 or by e-mail at jkrahnert@thepilot.com.