Jackie Jacobs arrived at the Costa Mesa DMV to replace her lost driver’s license about 9:40 a.m. Tuesday.
Almost two hours later, the Costa Mesa resident was still waiting in line, becoming irritable. Then she found out that the DMV branch will soon close for more than a month for renovations.
“It seems really impractical that they are spending money on aesthetics when they need to be spending it on being more efficient,” she said.
The DMV at 650 W. 19th St. plans to close at 5 p.m. April 23 and will not reopen until June 1.
In the meantime, the DMV office, which opened in Costa Mesa in 1976, will undergo exterior and interior upgrades such as removing flooring lined with asbestos, refreshing paint and making other improvements, said Veronica Jones, the office manager.
The work will cost an estimated $135,000, which comes from DMV fees that were appropriated for the project two years ago, said Steve Haskins, a Department of Motor Vehicles spokesman.
The office’s 34 or so employees serve about 750 daily customers, most of whom live in Costa Mesa and neighboring cities, Jones said.
Some of them are not happy.
“They can’t afford closing for more than a month,” said Kelly Kemmerer, a Laguna Beach resident who went to the Costa Mesa office to pick up her car registration tags. “I waited outside for an hour in line just to approach the door. We don’t really need them to spend the money on renovation. Why don’t they spend it on staffing? We could care less about that. Our time is money too.”
Domenick Morabito from Irvine agreed.
“If it’s just to make the place look better,” he said, “I don’t want my tax money spent on that, but I’m OK with it only if it’s going to increase the efficiency.”
The Costa Mesa office is just one of several throughout the state that has been undergoing upgrades in recent years.
Haskins said the renovations are necessary “so [DMV branches] don’t break down, which causes customer inconvenience.”
As part of state-mandated furloughs, DMV offices close for the first three Fridays of every month.
Customers are encouraged to go online for services, including renewing registration and driver’s licenses.
There are other options. The DMV offices closest to Costa Mesa are in Laguna Hills, Westminster, Santa Ana and Long Beach.
