BEND, Ore. -- When the Oregon DMV revealed this week that it plans to move its Bend office into the Brookswood Meadow Plaza, at the southwest corner of the city, it had neighbors predictably upset.

"The best thing that could happen is it doesn't happen," River Rim resident Robert Tyler said Wednesday. "I think that's the right answer with a plethora of space throughout the city, everybody wonders why they chose this one."

Tyler was among close to a dozen residents to travel to City Hall Wednesday night to speak their mind about the planned move, none in support. Though it wasn't on the agenda, it turned into an impromptu public hearing, with the neighbors allowed to pose questions to state DMV Administrator Tom McClellan and John Keba, the property manager for the plaza, though there were rounds of applause and snickers at some remarks that drew a rebuke as "not acceptable" by Mayor Kathie Eckman.

There even was talk from a few of boycotting the new C.E. Lovejoy's Brookswood Market unless the decision is reversed.

Councilor Jim Clinton, who lives nearby -- and first got politically involved working to save Elk Meadow from development -- said when he first heard the rumors a while back of the DMV move, he thought, "This is a really dumb idea." And he said nothing he's heard since has changed his opinion.

Clinton and colleagues noted that the "convenience commercial" zoning was designed to keep people from having to drive across town to get groceries or do business -- not to bring more visitors to the residential neighborhood.

He called it a "perversion of this zone," but added, "The problem is, the city's hands are sort of tied. It's a permitted use." Still, he also said, "I consider that a defect in the zone," though likely any future efforts at a fix wouldn't change the current situation.

Councilor Oran Teater also called the DMV's choice of a new location a "dumb idea" and said, "I would hope that the DMV would listen to the citizens and reconsider this" -- a view echoed by colleagues Tom Greene and Jodie Barram.

Greene said the opponents should watch for anything about the plans that could violate city codes, which would be an avenue for the city to pursue.

One sticking point could be the need for a transit stop near such offices -- coincidentally, the city just transfered management of Bend Area Transit to the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council, part of what's hoped to be a regional transit system.

"The city never promised to extend a route that far south," Barram said.

Councilor (and lawyer) Jeff Eager said the new DMV location also "doesn't make sense to me," and while it might be an allowed use in the zoning for the area, he also offered a none-too-subtle hint to the state agency that it might want to rethink its site selection.

State lawmakers are watching, he said, and agencies such as DMV are not immune to "political pressures."

Earlier Wednesday, Tyler said his community spends a lot of time making sure it's clean and safe.

"It's family-oriented," Tyler said. "We spend a lot of money on landscaping it and keeping it pretty, so we're proud of it. And this seems to go against everything that river rim is expecting and wants."

Tyler's sentiment is shared with many neighbors in the area.

"We watch out for kids," said George Tressa. "They cross the street to go to elementary school. Brookswood is a busy street, and all this does is increase traffic on Brookswood."

Brookswood Meadow Plaza is about 50 percent occupied, which means there's still space available for more businesses.

Residents say parking is already limited and that this is going to make it even worse.

"There are moments when there are larger delivery trucks that go to the grocery store, and they take up six to eight parking spots themselves," sTyler said.

Even if parking wasn't a problem, neighbors still are worried about the idea of drivers who aren't paying attention or who are just learning to drive.

DMV officials have already said that they won't be doing driving tests on private roads.

"One of the things people are concerned about is driving tests and DMV will not conduct driving tests on the private neighborhood streets. There will be no tests there," said Shelly Snow from the Oregon Department of Transportation.

The DMV expects to serve around 360 customers per day.

Neighbors say having the DMV in their location is not an ideal place because the building is way down south and not centrally located.

"The folks that own this plaza have a lot of vacancy, and I know DMV has been scrambling to find affordable space. But I just wish it wasn't in our backyard," said Tressa.

The DMV says that it has looked at everything that was available for real estate.

DMV officials say, though, that there are fewer and fewer customers who come into the offices, because people are using the mail and the Internet to take care of business.

The agency had announced the move Monday.

Located at 19550 Amber Meadow Drive, the office will include a new “express” service counter that will help reduce waiting times.

DMV has been in a temporary location on Bend's north end for almost a year.

“It was a challenge to find a location with both the office space and parking space that we need,” DMV Field Services Manager Stephanie Miles said. “The new facility will allow us to serve the Bend community more efficiently.”

The office will offer all DMV services, except drive tests for commercial trucks and motorcycles. It will also include an express service counter for customers with less complex transactions, which will reduce waiting time.

Hours of business will remain the same: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, except Wednesday, when the office is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

DMV encourages residents to visit OregonDMV.com to see if they can do their business online or by mail, or to call the local DMV phone number to make sure they are prepared before traveling to a DMV office (541-388-6322).

Customers can also find out about other DMV field office locations and hours at www.OregonDMV.com.

DMV BEND FIELD OFFICE

Frequently Asked Questions

August 30, 2010

DMV Services

What services will be offered at the new field office?

The office will process driver licensing and title/registration transactions, knowledge testing, VIN inspections, and class C drive tests. The office will have an express service counter inside the building. The office will not conduct motorcycle skills testing or CDL drive testing.

How many employees are at the field office?

There are 12 employees including the manager. The employees will park in the Brookswood Meadow Plaza parking lot.

What are the hours of operation for the field office?

The office hours will be 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, except on Wednesdays it will open at 9:00 a.m. The employees will be commuting to work between 7 – 7:30 a.m. and 5 – 5:30 p.m.

What is the size of the new facility?

The new facility is approximately 4,984 sq ft. The previous facility on Emkay Drive was approximately 3,840 sq ft. The total space is a little less than 10 percent of the available retail space in the plaza. The new facility provides additional waiting area for customers and improves customer service through more efficient workflow.

What are the volumes of transactions at the field office?

There are approximately 157 drive tests per month (average of seven per day). These are offered by appointment only. We will take nearby school hours into consideration when scheduling appointments. The drive tests are conducted Monday through Friday, except Tuesdays.

There has been only one minor accident in the parking lot while conducting a drive test at the field office in the past five years. The employees receive extensive training on how to conduct drive tests to ensure the safety of the driver, pedestrians, and other drivers.

This training includes how to:

• Apply uniform scoring criteria according to state standards.

• Conduct a vehicle inspection to ensure the vehicle is safe and the driver is knowledgeable about the vehicle.

• Ensure a driver is knowledgeable about the rules of the road.

• Respond to emergency situations.

The drive test routes will not go through private neighborhood streets.

The average number of driver licensing and title/registration transactions per day is 330 (January through July, 2010).

What is the volume of customers at the field office?

The average number of customers per day is 369 (January through July, 2010). There are 45 parking spaces reserved for DMV employees and customers in the parking lot. There are a total of 118 parking spaces available at Brookswood Meadow Plaza.

What are the “peak times” of service at the field office?

During the day, the office experiences higher volumes after 1:00 p.m. The first of each month and end of the month are also busier times at the field office.

What other options are available for DMV services?

Customers may process registration renewals and address changes via mail or online at www.oregondmv.com.

DAS Leasing Process

What process was used that led to the selection of the Brookswood Meadow Plaza?

Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division (DMV) moved to a temporary location in December, 2009 after several months of an unsuccessful search for a new, permanent location in Bend. DMV and the Department of Administrative Services as its leasing agent considered all the commercial property listings over a 12-month period.

During this time, DMV staff and DAS representatives toured 20+ commercial listings and selected four separate locations to explore leasing opportunities.

For various reasons, leases could not be finalized with the owners of these properties.

After consulting with DMV’s local office manager, a 37-year resident of Bend, and the DMV Region Manager, the search continued until we located the office space at the Brookswood Meadow Plaza location.

The state’s process is to keep all lease negotiations confidential until a lease is executed and then becomes public record. Keeping lease negotiations confidential until executed is a similar practice in the private sector.

Did the State follow the Facility Siting Policy 125-6-115 on locating this DMV facility?

Yes. Once an agency makes a business decision to find a suitable office space for its program, the Department of Administrative Services considers many options when identifying potential locations that will meet the agency’s needs. The guidelines outlined in the Facility Siting Policy, such as co-location with other agencies in the area, locating in the central business district or urban or non urban areas, location of transit, zoning use, parking, etc., are part of the considerations in a search.

Here are some specific things we considered:

• Co-location with other agencies in the area. Once DMV made a decision to move its DMV office in Bend, the Department of Administrative Services considered all properties available for lease to meet DMV’s office program requirements. No space was found in the same building where other agencies are located or could meet DMV’s parking requirements of 45 parking spaces.

DMV also considered remaining at its temporary location at the Department of Transportation Visitors Center on Third Street. After assessing the cost to remodel the space, as well as costs of relocating the office to a temporary space during the potential remodel and the additional land DMV would have to lease for parking, DMV determined a remodel was not an economical or feasible option.

• Locating in the central business district or urban or non urban areas. A suitable office space location offering parking spaces for clients in the central business district was not found. We expanded our search beyond the central business district into other urban areas. The Brookswood Meadow Plaza is located within the Urban Growth Boundary.

• Location of transit: Our policies state that transit service is to be available within ½ mile of the site. The City of Bend (Bend Area Transit) recently established bus service to serve the city and currently has only six bus routes. As part of the owner’s development of Brookswood Meadow Plaza, a bus stop location was built adjacent to the property at the request of the City of Bend. A concrete pad now exists for a transit stop. The owner will work with the City of Bend and request that the route be extended due to the large concentration of homes in the neighborhood as well as the needs of the tenants.

• Zoning Use: The zoning is Commercial (CC) and allows DMV permitted use as a tenant up to 8,000 square feet of office space. DMV will occupy less than 5,000 rentable sq. ft. of office space. This represents 10 percent of the space within the shopping center.

• Parking: The owner will provide 45 parking spaces in the Brookswood Meadow Plaza for clients. The commercial driving licenses (CDL) and motorcycle testing will be completed at an off site location by appointment. The 45 parking spaces provide adequate spaces for the customers visiting this location.

The agency said it will post more answers to questions as they receive them at www.oregon.gov/ODOT/COMM.