Santa Paula DMV Office To Close For One-Week

Sacramento-The Santa Paula office of the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will be temporarily closed for one week at the close of business on Friday, July 15, 2005, for renovations to install new modular furniture, upgrade below-ground computer cabling systems, and make other customer-friendly changes to make the office more accessible and efficient. The easiest way to accommodate this work is to close the facility for a brief time. The office will reopen for business on Monday, July 25, 2005.

DMV officials say the 15-year old office has never had any sort of major repairs since it opened in 1990. The facility is located at 250 West Harvard Boulevard, Suite #A, in Santa Paula.

The Santa Paula office is one of several offices slated for maintenance, repairs and/or renovation work during 2005. DMV usually closes about a dozen offices each year for varying lengths of time to make infrastructure repairs or for equipment installation.

The Santa Paula office employs 10 full-time and 3 part-time employees who handle more than 68,000 transactions each year. During the brief renovation project, technicians will be loaned to nearby DMV offices to help handle customers diverted because of the renovation project.

DMV officials carefully monitor the workload of surrounding offices on a day-by-day basis and move technicians to where they are most needed when an office is closed because of projects such as this one. The offices where Santa Paula DMV customers will be steered are:

Ventura, 4260 Market Street, 12 miles away;

Oxnard, 4050 South Saviers Road, 20 miles away;

Simi Valley, 3855-D Alamo Street, 34 miles away;

Newhall, 24427 Newhall Avenue, 36 miles away; and

Thousand Oaks, 1810 Avenida de Los Arboles, 39 miles away.

In a continuing effort to shorten lines and wait times, the DMV wants customers to understand there are a number of options currently available to them, which if properly utilized, can dramatically reduce the number of transactions handled in any field office on a face-to-face basis. That means shorter lines and wait-times. For example, most routine services the DMV provides can be done by mail; instructions for mailing license or registration renewals are included with the notifications sent out by the Department. Customers can use checks or money orders to renew by mail.

The Internet is also useful for handling many transactions, including driver license and vehicle registration renewals. All that's needed is DMV paperwork, personal identification information provided on DMV renewal paperwork and a credit card. The DMV Website may be accessed at www.dmv.ca.gov. Ordering personalized license plates, scheduling for DMV appointments, refund requests, and checking on driving school licensing can also be handled via the Internet.

But if a face-to-face transaction is necessary, appointments are always encouraged---either by phone at 1-800-777-0133 or 1-800-921-1117 (the Department's new Voice Recognition System) or over the Internet. Both options are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Santa Paula DMV Office To Close For One-Week Renovation