PALMDALE—The City of Palmdale will be losing its only DMV office as the state agency plans to build a new and bigger location for the entire Antelope Valley.
The DMV is building a new and single location to replace both the Palmdale and Lancaster offices, putting the Valley's only DMV location in Lancaster.
"I think it is crazy. Why do we have to go all the way to Lancaster for that and especially for us handicap people. It is hard enough we have to come here and stand in line with nowhere to sit and then we have to go somewhere else. That doesn't make any sense,” said Lygeia Alston of Palmdale.
DMV officials say part of the plan is for the Lancaster and Palmdale employees to be moved into the new office when it's ready. However it is a merger plan Palmdale City officials don't agree with.
"I'm not convinced it is going to change the dynamics. It will initially be a bigger building, but ultimately I expect the same DMV we have grown to love. It is a challenge and unfortunate we had no idea this was coming as a city. Nobody had a dialogue with us,” said Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford.
The new DMV office is already under construction in Lancaster, located off of 10th Street West and Avenue L-6. When it is completed, it will be more than double the size of the two current offices combined. The office could open by the end of the year.
In a statement to Time Warner Cable News, the DMV said the new Lancaster DMV office will be more efficient with more work stations and lobby space. It will better serve customers in both communities and will have three times the number of windows for DMV employees to serve customers.