‘Salt in the wound’: Lahaina homeowners fight for door-to-door mail service after rebuilding

News admin August 27, 2026 0 Comments

‘Salt in the wound’: Lahaina homeowners fight for door-to-door mail service after rebuilding

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Lahaina fire survivors faced many road blocks to returning home after the tragedy, including getting their mail.

After waiting more than a year for a building permit, Calvin Cox and Donna Butterfield have completely rebuilt their Lahaina home that was destroyed during the 2023 wildfires.

But the Luakini Street house, in the town’s burn zone, is now missing the mail service it had before the tragedy.

“I feel like we’ve worked so hard to get back here,” Butterfield said. “Now this is just another hurdle.”

The Lahaina Downtown Post Office was destroyed during the disaster, and now the United States Postal Service is considering whether to permanently close the location.

Additionally, Cox and Butterfield say USPS wants to classify Lahaina’s rebuilt homes as new developments, which means their mail would be delivered to a cluster of boxes, instead of directly to their door.

“It’s frustrating that one, the county considers us in the historic district,” Butterfield said.

Cox added, “It feels like salt in the wound to me.”

Ironically, the couple’s mailbox was one of the few things that survived the fire, and the same goes for some of their neighbors.

“We finally jump through all the hoops and get our home rebuilt. We finally get grass again. It was kind of amazing how much we missed grass. And then after all of that, we can’t get our mail,” Cox said.

Council member Tamara Paltin is also pushing for direct home mail delivery to be reinstated and for the post office to be rebuilt.

“To call it a new development is just insulting,” Paltin said. “I think they’re saying like, oh, it burned down. So we’re going to stop using it.”

Paltin issued a joint statement with U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda Wednesday voicing opposition to the USPS proposals, a day before the agency plans to hold a public meeting on the matter.

“It’s outrageous to think that the U.S. Postal Service somehow believes that a 30-minute Zoom session is adequate for community engagement. It’s absolutely not,” Tokuda argued.

Tokuda plans to deliver a speech about the proposal on the House floor next week.

USPS sent Hawaii News Now the following statement:

The Downtown Lahaina Post Office at 132 Papalaua Street is closed because of irreparable damage from the 2023 natural disaster, but postal services to the area continue. Because a viable new location downtown could not be secured, the Postal Service is soliciting input from affected customers through surveys, a virtual community meeting, and a public comment period before a decision is made about whether to permanently close the downtown location.

As they have since August 7, 2023, downtown customers continue to access in-person postal products and services at the nearby Main Lahaina Post Office at 1760 Honoapiilani Hwy, which is 1.77 miles away. It is open Monday – Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Other in-person retail options may be found by visiting USPS Postal Locator.

Affected customers who would like to participate in the virtual community meeting about the Downtown Lahaina Post Office can join the meeting via Zoom at 10:00 a.m. HST, Thursday, Aug. 27.

Customers can also submit comments and questions through the questionnaire received in the mail or respond to the upcoming public comment announcement, which will be posted at the Main Lahaina Post Office.

The Pu’unene Post Office located at 10 Hansen Rd., Pu’unene, HI 96784, was suspended due to the termination of the lease by the lessor in September 2024. Since the suspension, postal products and services have been available at Kahului Main Office located at 138 S Puunene Ave, Kahului, HI, 96732, which is 1.49 miles away. Retail hours are Monday – Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to noon. Other in-person retail options may be found by visiting USPS Postal Locator.

Because a viable alternate location could not be found, USPS is seeking input from affected customers through surveys, a virtual community meeting, and a public comment period before a decision is made. They may participate in a virtual community meeting about the Pu’unene Post Office on Thursday, Sept. 10, at 11:00 a.m. HST via Zoom. Pu’unene customers can also submit comments and questions through the upcoming questionnaire or public comment announcement, which will be posted at the Kahului Post Office.

Customers are also encouraged to take advantage of options available on usps.com, which can save them a trip to a Post Office. Stamps are available by calling 1-800-STAMP24 or on The Postal Store, shipping labels with postage and pick-up request options are on Click-N-Ship, and Hold Mail and Change of Address options can be found at Standard Forward Mail & Change of Address.