Staffing issues forces closure of Lincoln City DMV office for two months

LINCOLN CITY – The Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles is closing its Lincoln City office for two months beginning Monday, April 20 so it can hire and train 1-2 employees to staff the office.

The closure of the small, two-person office at 4422 N.E. Devils Lake Blvd. Suite 1 will last through June 29, the agency said. The office is currently open three days a week – Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

“A number of personnel changes happened simultaneously at our Lincoln City and Newport DMV offices,” public information officer Chris Crabb said in a news release. “While not ideal, this temporary pause will allow us to ensure we continue delivering high-quality service when we reopen June 30.”

The lead DMV employee from Lincoln City will join Newport’s two remaining full-time staff until additional people are recruited, hired and trained for both offices, Crabb said. Crabb said Lincoln City is supposed to have two full-time employees and Newport three.

The agency juggles staffing at many of its smaller offices across the state each morning depending whether employees are scheduled to work, who is scheduled off, is sick or in training.

“We’re hiring more people but it takes a while,” she said.

Newport office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday. Starting June 30, the Lincoln City office will reopen three days a week 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday with a break from noon to 1:30 p.m.

The agency said the number of positions DMV is allowed by law to hire is roughly the same as it was 25 years ago, yet the state’s population has grown by over 800,000 since then, with nearly all those people needing DMV services.

Crabb said customers are encouraged to visit DMV2U, which offers more than 30 online transactions that can save you a trip to a DMV office.