AG Instructs Localities to Permit EV Stations

| Tara Sullivan
charging

If you own an electric vehicle, one main concern is finding a public charging station.  While California has lead the nation with the number of electric vehicles sold (25.1% of all vehicle sales as of January 2025), and also leads with the number of chargers in the state (178,549 public & shared chargers as of March 2025), getting an electric vehicle (“EV”) charging station approved has proven to be a challenge.  The biggest roadblock EV charging station companies face are local jurisdictions and their Planning-Zoning codes.

As a refresher, the state legislature passed laws that mandated local jurisdictions create a streamlined approval process for EV charging (AB 1236 (Chiu, 2015) and AB 970 (McCarty and Chiu, 2021) adding Sections 65850.7 and 65850.71 to the California Government Code (together referred to as “charging streamlining laws”)).

Many jurisdictions have implemented a streamlined permit review system through their building & permitting departments.  Others, such as San Francisco, have updated their Planning codes to allow certain sites, such as former gas stations, to be converted to EV charging sites.

However, the majority of jurisdictions throughout the state either do not have EV charging stations in their Planning-Zoning codes, require a Conditional Use permit or other discretionary review, or are not permitted altogether, despite the state laws requiring the opposite.

To assist, the Attorney General issued a Legal Alert in March 2025.  Titled “Electric Vehicle Charging Station Permit Streamlining Requirements” (OAG 2025-001), it is a “reminder” to local California jurisdictions of the state laws to streamline and expedite the permitting of EV charging stations.

The Legal Alert clearly outlines what the state legislature intended with AB 1236 and AB 970.  It also provides examples of how jurisdictions have been out of compliance.  Importantly, the alert specifies:

  1. EV streamlining laws supersede all local zoning designations and ordinances
    • EV charging stations can go in any zoning district, whether or not they are currently zoned for them or are expressly prohibited.
    • Meaning, they are permitted throughout a locality’s boundaries.
  2. EV charging laws apply to both primary and secondary uses of EV chargers
    • The EV streamlining laws apply to all charging station installations, regardless of whether the EV stations are for personal, public, or fleet use; or whether they are for light-medium, or heavy-duty vehicles.
    • EV charging facilities are permitted as-of-right.
  3. No discretionary review-applications of EV charging stations
    • No Conditional Use permits, no design review, variances, or other use permits are allowed.
    • Localities cannot consider aesthetics / design.
  4. Accelerated timeline for EV charging station review-permit issuance
    • Applications shall be deemed complete within 5 or 10 days from submittal (depending on # of chargers proposed).
    • After deemed complete, locality has 20 or 40 business days to approve the permit (depending on # of chargers proposed).
    • This includes any Planning-Zoning review.
  5. Only specific health and safety impacts can be reviewed and conditioned by local jurisdictions
    • A locality must specify in writing that, based on substantial evidence, the charging station “would have a specific, adverse impact upon the public health or safety.”
    • Specific, adverse impact = “a significant, quantifiable, direct and unavoidable impact, based on objective, identified, and written public health or safety standards, policies, or conditions as they existed on the date the application was deemed complete.”

The Legal Alert states that components of a proposed installation that are integral for the functioning of the charging station (equipment, paving, etc.) are included in the streamlining process.  Design guidelines that implicate health and safety, such as safety-related lighting and clearance, are permissible for a locality to impose under Section 65850.7.  In addition, items such as bathrooms, accessory structures, etc., that are not necessary to the EV charging are subject to a locality’s zoning processes.

The Legal Alert clearly states how local jurisdictions should (and should not) be reviewing and approving EV charging installations.  It is meant to push local jurisdictions to update their processes and stop imposing illegal conditions and timelines for review of EV charging installations.  The Legal Alert’s written guidance will help EV charging companies and individuals obtain permits in a timely and efficient manner.  Hopefully this will open up approvals throughout the state so that the number of charging stations rise, furthering the use of electric vehicles.

 

Authored by Reuben, Junius & Rose, LLP Partner, Tara Sullivan.

The issues discussed in this update are not intended to be legal advice and no attorney-client relationship is established with the recipient. Readers should consult with legal counsel before relying on any of the information contained herein. Reuben, Junius & Rose, LLP is a full service real estate law firm. We specialize in land use, development and entitlement law. We also provide a wide range of transactional services, including leasing, acquisitions and sales, formation of limited liability companies and other entities, lending/workout assistance, subdivision and condominium work.

Supervisors Pass New EV Charging Rules

| Chloe Angelis
legislation

Back in March, we wrote about pending legislation that would amend the Planning Code to specifically address electric vehicle (“EV”) charging uses. At the time, the legislation was headed to the Planning Commission for initial consideration. On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors unanimously passed an amended version of that legislation on the first reading.

As we explained in our March update, the Planning Code does not currently contemplate EV charging at all—leaving operators to work with the Planning Department on a case-by-case basis to determine the permissibility and approval path for any new EV charging site.

In order to meet the City’s climate action targets (which include a goal of 100% registered private vehicle electrification by 2040), the legislation aims to create a Planning framework to streamline the approval of publicly accessible EV charging stations and to regulate (though not necessarily streamline) the approval of new fleet vehicle charging sites.

The legislation creates two new Planning Code use categories, both under the umbrella of “Automotive Use.” The new “Electric Vehicle Charging Location” (“EV Charging Location”) use covers public-facing charging locations and “Fleet Charging” covers EV charging facilities that are dedicated to a private entity and not available to the general public.

The initial draft of the legislation would have required Conditional Use (“CU”) Authorization for Fleet Charging in most zoning districts, except in PDR-1-D, PDR-1-G, and PDR-2 districts, where Fleet Charging would have been principally permitted. That draft also would have prohibited Fleet Charging in the Neighborhood Commercial Districts. The earlier version of the ordinance called for more permissibility related to EV Charging Locations, which would be permitted in most districts, and would be principally permitted wherever the existing use is already some type of Automotive Use. This provision remains in the version passed on Tuesday.

The legislation was heard by the Land Use and Transportation Committee three times after it came out of the Planning Commission on April 14 with a handful of recommended changes. Several more amendments were made at those three Committee hearings—mostly to further restrict the permissibility of Fleet Charging uses—as outlined here:

  1. While the initial version of ordinance would have allowed EV Charging Locations to dedicate up to 1/3 of spaces as accessory Fleet Charging, the final version of the ordinance prohibits Fleet Charging as an accessory use to EV Charging Locations or to any other use. I.e., no accessory Fleet Charging, period.
  2. Consistent with the Planning Commission’s recommendation, the final legislation permits Fleet Charging in most of the Neighborhood Commercial Districts with approval of a CU.
  3. The Land Use and Transportation Committee opted to require a CU for Fleet Charging in all of the PDR districts, primarily based on a concern that Fleet Charging uses could displace businesses that provide blue collar jobs. However, existing Private Parking Lots and Vehicle Storage Lots in the PDR-1-D, PDR-1-G, and PDR-2 districts will be able to convert to Fleet Charging without a CU. Supervisor Peskin explained that this minor exception would cover a limited number of properties located in District 10.

In addition to the above changes incorporated into the version of the legislation approved by the Board this week, the Land Use and Transportation Committee also created a duplicated version of the file in order to add a set of new CU findings that would apply to Fleet Charging projects. As drafted, a proposed Fleet Charging use would require consideration of the following criteria:

  1. The proposed Fleet Charging use will not induce demand for low occupancy vehicles in highly congested areas or in transit-rich areas.
  2. Vehicle movement on or around the Fleet Charging use will not unduly impact pedestrian spaces or movement, transit service, bicycle movement, or the overall traffic movement.
  3. If the vehicles accessing the proposed Fleet Charging use are owned by one ownership entity, that the ownership entity establishes that it has secured sufficient parking spaces for vehicles when not in operation within San Francisco or adjacent counties.

The second finding essentially codifies a question that a Fleet Charging project’s environmental review would already address—i.e., would a new vehicle-oriented use significantly impact traffic in the vicinity of the project? The Planning Department is experienced with traffic circulation issues and how they should be addressed as part of the land-use process. So, we don’t anticipate a significant amount of uncertainty related to this second finding.

The first and third findings, however, leave open some critical questions of interpretation.

The first finding speaks to low occupancy vehicles. The Planning Code doesn’t define that term, but it is generally understood to mean a vehicle with one or two people in it. It’s not clear what this finding would mean as applied to a Fleet Charging use serving EV rideshare vehicles—which may sometimes carry only one passenger at a time. Other types of fleets, including delivery vehicles and service vehicles, will often have a driver and no passengers. Depending on how it’s applied, this finding could actually discourage the electrification of rideshare fleets—contrary to a 2021 California Air Resources Board mandate that rideshare companies reach zero GHG emissions and ensure that 90% of their vehicle miles are fully electric by 2030.[1]

It’s also unclear what exactly the third proposed finding aims to accomplish. EV chargers are likely to be installed at parking facilities, such that vehicles can be parked and charged in one place. Discouraging a dual charging/parking use would seem to run contrary to vehicle miles traveled (“VMT”) reduction goals.

Hopefully, these questions will get answered as the duplicated version of the ordinance makes its way through the legislative process. The duplicated legislation has been referred back to the Planning Commission, but as the Commission and Board of Supervisors head into August recess, we’ll have to wait until the fall to see how this shakes out.

[1] California Air Resources Board, Resolution No. 21-10 (May 20, 2021); see also California Air Resources Board Bulletin, California requires zero-emissions vehicle use for ridesharing services, another step toward achieving the state’s climate goals (May 20, 2021), available at: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/CARB/bulletins/2da5a7a.

 

Authored by Reuben, Junius & Rose, LLP Attorney Chloe Angelis.

The issues discussed in this update are not intended to be legal advice and no attorney-client relationship is established with the recipient.  Readers should consult with legal counsel before relying on any of the information contained herein.  Reuben, Junius & Rose, LLP is a full service real estate law firm.  We specialize in land use, development and entitlement law.  We also provide a wide range of transactional services, including leasing, acquisitions and sales, formation of limited liability companies and other entities, lending/workout assistance, subdivision and condominium work.