Columbus County drivers have a new place to get their licenses handled: the N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles opened a driver license office in Tabor City on October 5, located at 119 Lynwood Norris Road, right across from the Lake Tabor Boat Ramp. The timing couldn't be better for local residents, since it lands just weeks after the county's main DMV office in nearby Whiteville shut its doors for renovations.
According to WFSB, the new office is designed to serve customers across Columbus County, giving residents a local option instead of driving further afield for routine DMV business. The facility is staffed by two examiners and operates Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., handling walk-ins, appointments, and basic road skills testing, though commercial driver license and motorcycle testing are not available there, according to the N.C. Department of Transportation.
The project traces back to the state budget passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Josh Stein in July, which authorized funding for the new Tabor City facility, the agency's report notes. NCDMV Commissioner Paul Tine, whom Governor Stein appointed in May 2025, has spoken generally about expanding access and improving rural service.
Whiteville's Closure Makes Tabor City Essential
For many Columbus County residents, this new office arrives at a critical moment. The permanent NCDMV driver license office in Whiteville, the county seat, closed temporarily on September 25 for a six-month renovation, shifting local walk-in operations to American Legion Post 137, according to Columbus County News. Whiteville sits roughly 20 miles north of Tabor City, making the new office a genuinely useful alternative rather than just a nice-to-have.
Part of a Broader Statewide Push
Tabor City isn't an isolated addition. Over the past year, NCDMV has also added driver license offices in Garland in Sampson County, Leland in Brunswick County, and Fort Bragg in Cumberland County, while expanding its East Charlotte office, per the state transportation department's release. Looking further out, the agency has scheduled additional office openings or relocations for 2027 in Fuquay-Varina, Wake Forest, Concord, and Camp Lejeune, the North State Journal reports — continuing a pattern Hoodline previously covered in Wake County this past August, when the same state budget funded a new office there alongside the Tabor City project.
North Carolina has 20 self-service kiosks statewide, according to NCDOT's own office locator data.
Online Renewals Easing the Load Too
Physical expansion is only half the strategy. Under Senate Bill 245, enacted in September 2025, eligible North Carolina drivers can now renew non-REAL ID licenses online for two consecutive cycles, a change expected to move up to 400,000 transactions annually out of physical offices, the North State Journal reports. Combined with added examiner staffing, those reforms have reportedly helped push statewide average DMV wait times down to 23 minutes as of August 2026 — an 86% decrease from 2025, per the same outlet's reporting.
For Columbus County drivers navigating the Whiteville closure, the new Tabor City office offers a concrete, local fix while the state's bigger modernization push plays out in the background.
