Land use: development projects: electric vehicles.

The Planning and Zoning Law authorizes the legislative body of a county or city to adopt ordinances that, among other things, regulate the construction of development projects. Existing law also requires cities and counties to approve an application to install electric vehicle charging stations through the issuance of a building permit or similar nondiscretionary permit, as specified. Existing law provides that the implementation of consistent statewide standards to achieve timely and cost-effective installation of electric vehicle charging stations is a matter of statewide concern. This bill would require a city or county, as a condition of approval of an application for construction or reconstruction for a development project with greater than 250,000 square feet of retail floor area, to require the application to include specified information, including a reasonable estimate of the total number of customers anticipated to visit the development and the proportion of those customers expected to utilize electric vehicles. The bill would require the parking spaces dedicated to electric vehicle charging to count towards the total number of parking spaces required by the city or county. By increasing the duties of local officials, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.