Orange County legislators are calling for the California Department of Motor Vehicles to reconsider the closure of its Laguna Hills office, citing concerns for overcrowding and accessibility.
Spearheaded by Assemblymember Diane Dixon, R-Newport Beach, the bipartisan group of nearly a dozen legislators requested a September meeting with department representatives to discuss either renewing the Laguna Hills DMV lease or identifying a new location in South Orange County.
“The Laguna Hills Office is a vital state resource for South Orange County residents, particularly older adults, and its closure will cause significant challenges,” the legislators said in a letter sent Monday, Aug. 26.
Earlier this month, the DMV announced the closure of its Laguna Hills location, set for Oct.11. The location, opened in 1987, “does not meet the current needs of the DMV,” said the department.
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The office, located in a shopping mall at 23535 Moulton Pkwy., is one of two DMV locations in southern Orange County. The other location is situated 18 miles away at 2727 Via Cascadita in San Clemente.
The decision to close the Laguna Hills office “will require all 855,000 South Orange County residents to shift to the much smaller 8,400 square-foot field office in San Clemente — 18 miles away with very limited parking,” the letter said. Overcrowding of other Orange County DMV locations and longer wait times are among the legislators’ other concerns.
A DMV spokesperson said the Laguna Hills office is outdated, requiring major renovations to comply with DMV operational standards and with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
“The department determined it would be cost-prohibitive to renegotiate its lease with the necessary improvements, which is why it sought to relocate the office to a different location in the area,” said spokesperson Ronald Ongtoaboc.
Ongtoaboc did not comment specifically on the letter or whether the DMV would agree to the proposed September meeting.
The DMV initially intended to open a new location in Mission Viejo but was denied the conditional use permit by the City Council in June. That location would have been all-inclusive, offering driving tests and license and registration renewals.
But the proposed location, situated in the Kaleidoscope shopping mall off Crown Valley Parkway, would disrupt adjacent neighborhoods, councilmembers said. Behind-the-wheel driving tests and potential driving routes would enter residential areas, including those by Viejo Elementary School and Carl Hankey Academy.
The agency is no longer pursuing another site, and Laguna Hills office staff will be transferred to other DMV locations.
In north and central Orange County, five cities offer DMV locations: Costa Mesa, Fullerton, Santa Ana, Stanton and Westminster.
The department suggested Laguna Hills residents who’d be impacted by the closure turn to online services. A number of actions, including driver’s license renewals, are presently available via the DMV website.
“Most DMV business can be completed online or by mail, at DMV kiosks located throughout the state, over the phone or through DMV business partners, making it easier than ever to skip the trip to an office,” the department said in a news release announcing the closure.
But Dixon said online services are an insufficient resource.
“If that is the only option for the residents of South Orange County, that is not acceptable,” said Dixon, who represents the 72nd Assembly district, stretching along the coast from Seal Beach to Laguna Beach while picking up more inland communities of Aliso Viejo, Laguna Hills and Lake Forest.
Namely, Dixon said for elderly residents who are unable to utilize the digitized services or commute to other DMV offices, the Laguna Hills location is indispensable.
An in-person mandatory vision test is required of all drivers at age 70, and as of March 2025, Real ID — only obtainable through in-person visits to the DMV — will be required for entering federal courts or flying on domestic airline flights.
Of its population of 30,568, 19.8% of Laguna Hills residents are 65 years or older, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. And in Laguna Woods, a city immediately adjacent to Laguna Hills housing 17,192 residents, 82.6% of the population are of the same age demographic.
“I am concerned that this has been done too quickly without analyzing the user demographics in Orange County,” said Dixon.
“I have to believe there is a comparable facility that will meet their needs.”
Other signatories of the letter include Sens. Catherine Blakespear, D-Encinitas; Janet Nguyen, R-Huntington Beach; Josh Newman, D-Fullerton; and Tom Umberg, D-Santa Ana, as well as Assemblymembers Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Irvine; Kate Sanchez, R-Rancho Santa Margarita; Laurie Davies, R-Laguna Niguel; Sharon Quirk-Silva, D-Fullerton; Phillip Chen, R-Yorba Linda; and Tri Ta, R-Westminster.
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