GARLAND — Monday morning, Alysha Torres, a Cumberland County resident, traveled an hour to Garland’s Division of Motor Vehicles office to obtain her North Carolina driver’s license and agreed afterward that she “still saved time.”
Torres recently moved to North Carolina from Texas and learned about the Garland location from a friend. Knowing about long lines at many DMV offices, she opted to give the southern Sampson town’s office a try.
“I came all the way from Cumberland County because my friend told me about them; she lives in Cumberland County, too,” Torres explained. “She said, ‘Go out there. For one, they’re nice, and for two, there’s not too many people there, so you’re able to get in and get out.’”
Torres completed her visit in less than 25 minutes.
“It’s efficient,” she shared. “Even if there’s a line, it’s quick. It’s not like you’re waiting.”
Torres compared her experience in Garland to what she has encountered at DMV offices in Fayetteville.
“I think your best bet (for comparison) would be to go here … then go to Cumberland County; go to a Fayetteville DMV, and you’ll see the difference,” Torres described. “It’s like … in Fayetteville, if you pull the number C700, that means there’s 699 people before you; that’s what it seems like.”
Torres said she arrived at the Garland office at 9:30 a.m.
“I just walked right up,” she recalled. “I walked right in and now I’m walking out.”
She added that the Garland DMV staff is also “a lot more friendly here.”
The Garland DMV staff who assisted Torres that day were not permitted to give interviews due to agency policy.
The facility has been open in Garland since Dec. 22.
The town’s mayor, Ralph Smith Jr., said the idea of bringing a DMV office to town came after his own experience trying to renew his driver’s license the previous October.
“I went to the DMV in Clinton, and they were lined up out the door; I went to the one in Elizabethtown, and they were lined up out the door,” Smith recalled. “So I picked the lesser of two evils and went back to Elizabethtown — got there at 4 o’clock in the morning, first in line — but as I’m standing in line, by the time they opened the doors, there was a line down the sidewalk.”
That experience, Smith said, led him to consider pursuing an office for Garland.
“I stood there thinking, ‘Why don’t I try to get one of these put in Garland?’”
Smith said he sent an email to Gov. Josh Stein’s office and received a response within 24 hours.
“They liked the idea and wanted me to talk to our state legislators,” Smith explained. “I talked to House of Representatives member William Brisson, and then I talked to Senator Brent Jackson. … Within three weeks, it was laying on the governor’s desk to be signed.”
Smith described the DMV office as “a godsend” for Garland and said it has brought visitors into town.
“It’s brought people from all over the state to get their license, which has been good for commerce in Garland — it really has — and we appreciate it,” Smith expressed.
Smith also said those involved with the driver’s license office “have a real good working relationship” and expressed his appreciation for the facility.
The Garland DMV office is located at 35 S. Ingold Ave. Operating hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The office’s phone number is 984-236-9575. Walk-ins are accepted, and appointments can be scheduled online at skiptheline.ncdot.gov.