This week, West Chester Borough Council voted six to zero to take the first step in a multi-step process to improve the Borough’s Electric Vehicle (EV) infrastructure. And, no, it’s probably not the change you wanted.
“The low-hanging fruit policy-wise is to make sure that new developments support EV adoption by making charging convenient, especially charging at home,” West Chester Sustainability Director Will Williams told members of the Borough Council at the start of Wednesday’s public hearing on the topic.
To do this, West Chester approved changes to the Borough Code’s “Subdivision and Land Development”, “Parking” and “Zoning” chapters adding new definitions, new parking regulations, and new development requirements. While the code changes may seem a bit complicated the overall intent is pretty simple – ensure new developments are built ready to accommodate EV charging easily.
EV Ordinance overview
Under the newly adopted ordinance, non-residential new construction – think office parks or warehouse buildings – would need to make sure five percent of spaces have installed chargers and an additional 10 percent can accommodate them in the future. New multi-family housing complexes would need to have charging available for at least five percent of spaces and have an additional 20 percent EV-ready. Newly constructed single-family homes or garages would have to have one spot that is EV-ready.
That sounds like a lot. It kind of does, but it’s really not especially if you’re looking ahead. According to Will, the cost to retrofit an existing spot can run between $20K-$25K a spot. Doing it ahead of time will save developers thousands of dollars on future upgrades and prepare the Borough for increasing demand. Last year, roughly 10 percent of new light-duty cars and trucks purchased were electric.
If anything, this is just a start.
“Over time I would anticipate these numbers will get more stringent but for now, I think it’s a nice balance,” Will told council members.
Questions & Answers
Sounds reasonable, does this measure have unanimous support? No. West Chester Planning Commission was split on its support of the ordinance – and ultimately voted not to recommend its passage. Some members expressed a preference for an incentive approach rather than a mandate. Others voiced concerns over the potential burden on homeowners and affordable housing developments.
That’s a good point – what is the burden to homeowners? “Insignificant,” according to the Borough. There is a cost to completing the charging area but that is not required. “We are never going to require anyone to install EV charging if you are building a new home or garage but again we want to make sure it’s easy and efficient to do so [if you so choose],” Will said.
Essentially the ordinance comes at no expense to residents, and no expense to the Borough making it an easy first step to take. The burden will be borne by the developers but, like any other Zoning Code regulation, developers are welcome to seek variances if they feel they can not comply.
So is every municipality doing this? Not yet. Pheonxiville passed a similar ordinance two years ago. West Goshen is set to pass one in the coming weeks. According to information provided by Kristin Camp, the Borough’s solicitor, Phoenixville has not had any pushback from developers regarding their ordinance. Most are already going beyond set requirements just to meet consumer demand.
To further speed up adoption, PennDOT and PA’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resource (DCNR) have been issuing manuals with model ordinances, “It’s definitely something you are going to be seeing more and more of in the coming years,” Kristin said during the public hearing.
How many new EV parking spaces will this ordinance require from all those new developments? Sadly, zero. All projects already in the land development process are exempt from the changes. Some of the plans do currently call for the installation of charging stations but as it is not required this could change prior to the project’s completion.
Ok, last question, how does this help me charge my electric car if I don’t currently have access to a garage or off-street parking? It doesn’t. Remember how I said this was a multi-step process? Well, this was the easy one. “‘Get it right going forward,’ that’s the point of this ordinance,” said Will. “Then we’ve got to figure out how we give people without off-street parking a way to charge that is hyper-local to them.”
Originally published on Feb. 23, 2024
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