This past March, the City of Lafayette approved its first-ever Sustainability Plan highlighting the City's goal of reducing reliance on fossil fuels and increasing its use in renewable energy. To closely align with City-wide goals, Lafayette will adopt new regulations requiring new residential and commercial construction or major renovations to existing buildings to be solar and electric vehicle ready.
The Ordinance will be going to City Council for consideration on September 9 and 23, 2021.
Review the Ordinance for specific details.
Summary of Ordinance
Electric Vehicle (EV) Provisions
New parking lots or parking lot expansions will need to provide a certain number of spaces installed with improvements that will allow easy installment of future charging infrastructure. There are three different levels of charging infrastructure specified.
- EV-capable spaces require the builder to provide trenching and conduit to parking spaces for potential future installation of chargers or outlets.
- EV-ready spaces require the components of EV-capable plus installed wiring and an outlet.
- EV-installed spaces require installation of Level 2 or 3 EV-charging station.
Commercial
| Total number of parking spaces | Minimum number of EV ready pacess | Minimum number of EV capable spaces** | EVSE installed space* |
|---|
| 1 or more | 5% | 10% | 2% |
*The number of electric vehicle supply equipment installed spaces may be reduced by up to five provided that the building includes not less than one parking space equipped with an electric vehicle fast charger (level 3 charger) and not less than one electric vehicle ready space.
**The number of EV Capable Spaces can be reduced by up to four spaces for each additional one EV Ready Space provided.
Multi-Family
| Total number of parking spaces | Minimum number of EV ready spaces | Minimum number of EV capable spaces*** |
|---|
| 1 or more | 2 spaces or 10%, whichever is greater | 20% of total parking spaces |
***The number of EV Capable Spaces can be reduced by up to four spaces for each additional one EV Ready Space provided.
Residential
- For each unit, provide at least one EV ready parking space. In cases where no parking spaces are required, then no EV ready spaces are required.
- The branch circuit and termination locations shall be marked as "EV Ready."
Will this affect my project?
The proposed regulations are only for new construction, additional and major renovations affecting more than 50% of the building area. The regulations are proposed to become effective within three months of enactment by City Council. There are also exemptions for permits in process and requirements for production housing model approve plans, these are highlighted below:
- Exempt Permits: Permits submitted prior to effective date, as long as they are issued within 180 days of an extension are granted per the building code.
- Production Housing Model Approved Plans (PHMAP): Any PHMAP approved plans prior to ordinance enactment are valid for one (1) year after effective date and permits can be issued in that timeframe. After one year, the plans need to be resubmitted and reapproved to comply with new code.
Any questions can be emailed to planning@lafayetteco.gov.