Martinez Municipal Code Ch. 10.38 Electric Vehicle Parking Stalls and Spaces

The City Council makes all of the following findings in establishing this chapter:

A. The City Council finds that there is a need for parking stalls and spaces to be located within the City which are made available to the public for charging of electric vehicles over short-term or long-term periods in order to promote greater fuel conservation and enhance fuel and energy efficiency.

B. The City Council finds that the City has previously invested in electric vehicle charging infrastructure through grants obtained by 511 Contra Costa, the transportation demand management program for all jurisdictions within Contra Costa County, with funding supplied through Measure C and Measure J half-cent sales tax for Transportation Improvement Projects along with Transportation for Clean Air funding from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. Through such funding sources, the City has constructed and installed various electric vehicle charging stations for the use of owners of electric vehicles to connect their electric vehicles to charging stations and charge their vehicle power sources.

C. The City Council finds that the public use of the City-owned electric vehicle charging stations has resulted in significant costs being incurred by the City including energy usage, software program costs, equipment depreciation, personnel costs, maintenance, and repair and replacement costs; none of which may the City recover while it continues to provide such service without charging the vehicle owners' fees for the benefits being received by them. Unreimbursed expenditures of money from the General Fund and other resources shall continue to be incurred by the City each time a vehicle owner uses a City-owned vehicle charging station without payment of a fee to the City.

D. The City Council finds that it is beneficial to the public and the environment that the City's electric vehicle charging stations continue to be used and available to owners of electric vehicles and that the establishment of certain regulations, including fees for the reimbursement of the City for its costs incurred in providing such service and hourly limits for parking in short-term parking spaces, will enable the City to continue to make available the electric vehicle charging service to the public on both short-term and long-term charging basis.

E. The City Council finds that the fees being established in the amounts set forth by this Ordinance are reasonably proportionate to each user's portion of costs incurred by the City in providing the service, and further finds that based upon the anticipated level of usage such fees as a whole are reasonable and necessary for the City to recover even a portion of its costs of providing electric vehicle charging parking spaces or stalls for public use.

(Ord. No. 1378 C.S., § I, 2/5/2014)

The following fees shall be charged for utilizing City-owned electric vehicle charging station spaces or stalls:

A. Short-term rates shall consist of $1.00 per hour. No vehicle shall be parked, left standing, or connected to a charging station for more than 4 consecutive hours in any electric vehicle charging station space or stall having short-term rates. Short-term rates shall be charged for all electric vehicle charging stations spaces or stalls located within the City Hall parking lot and for electric vehicle charging stations parking stalls or spaces located on or along Court and Main Streets.

B. Long-term rates shall consist of $1.00 per hour, with a maximum of $12.00 being charged per each electric vehicle charging session, no matter how long such session may continue. Notwithstanding the fees established by this subsection, no vehicle shall be parked, left standing, or connected to a charging station for more than 24 consecutive hours in any electric vehicle charging station space or stall having long-term rates. Long-term rates shall be charged for all electric vehicle charging stations stalls or spaces within the parking lots for the Amtrak and Pacheco Transit Hub stations.

(Ord. No. 1378 C.S., § I, 2/5/2014)

The City hereby designates each of the parking stalls and spaces described by this chapter to be exclusively for the purpose of charging and parking a vehicle that is connected for electric charging purposes. Each of the parking stalls and spaces so designated shall be posted in accordance with subdivision (d) of Section 22511 of the California Vehicle Code.

(Ord. No. 1378 C.S., § I, 2/5/2014)