The state's Registry of Motor Vehicles will close its branch on Cabot Street in Beverly this September — and shut down 11 offices statewide — in a move it says will save $1.7 million annually in rent.
The move will mean that Cape Ann drivers, car owners and auto dealers will have a longer trek to carry out any in-person paperwork renewals or other business with the state's auto licensing agency.
"When you have $13 million in budget cuts, you've got to make some decisions," Registrar Rachel Kaprielian said.
The Beverly RMV, one of 11 branches targeted for closure, is set to shut its doors Sept. 11, Kaprielian said. By Sept. 14, a limited branch — meaning basic services such as licenses, registrations and plates — will open in MassHighway's District 4 Garage on Route 1 in Peabody.
"The goal is to not have a disruption in service," she said.
But the next closest full-service Registry offices for Cape Ann customers would be in Lawrence, Haverhill or Revere.
The Registry says it will open five new branches at Massachusetts Turnpike offices, toll plazas and visitor centers — all sites where the Registry won't have to pay rent. The branch closings will begin this month in Lowell and end in December in Boston.
In addition to Beverly, branches are also closing in North Attleboro, Cambridge, New Bedford, Springfield, Southbridge, Framingham, Falmouth and Eastham.
New plazas in Boston and Charlton will be full service, but branches in Natick, Bourne and Peabody will be "express" branches, according to the state.
The Registry has been in downtown Beverly, diagonally across from City Hall, since 1996. The branch serves an average of 566 people per day, making it the 11th busiest among the state's 35 branches, according to the Registry.
The announcement carries economic overtones for Beverly, and losing Registry branch visitors won't be good for downtown, said Gin Wallace, executive director of Beverly Main Streets, the city's business organization.
"Those people who come into the RMV have found their ways to other stores and restaurants," Wallace said. "That's really a shame."
Don Preston, owner of the Casa de Moda gift shop on Cabot Street, said the RMV brings in business from the people who work there, the people who go there, and all the driving schools associated with it.
"They've been an integral part of business," he said. "The impact is going to be pretty dramatic."
He said the move doesn't come as a complete surprise, because many state agencies are looking to house services in buildings they already own to save money on rent.
"There's a certain logic to it," Preston said. However, he said the state may lose money in sales tax in the long run.
"It may save the state money in one sense," he said, "and it may cost the state money in tax revenue downtown."
However, this might not mean a complete end for an RMV in Beverly, Mayor Bill Scanlon said.
Space set aside specifically for the RMV is included in design plans for the new parking garage by the Beverly Depot on Rantoul Street, he said. The project is scheduled to be complete by 2011.
"When it's done," Scanlon said, "there will be an RMV in Beverly again."
Cate Lecuyer may be contacted at clecuyer@gloucestertimes.com.
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