Business View Magazine | August 2019

306 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE AUGUST 2019 adopt an ordinance mandating that all new developments and redevelopment projects incorporate Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (EVCSs) into the site plan approval process. This ordinance is designed to address “range anxiety,” the term that describes a consumer’s fear that the electric battery in their plug-in electric vehicle will run out of gas mid-route. This is one of the biggest impediments to people purchasing a plug-in electric vehicle. The requirement to install EVCSs applies to multifamily developments, office, warehousing and manufacturing, and retail uses. The ordinance requires that the project include EVCSs equal in number to 3 percent of the required parking, with conduit being laid in place to allow for the expansion to 7 percent in the future. As expressed by Vigna, “The township’s intent was to adopt a local ordinance in a format that is readily adaptable to other municipalities, in effect, attaining a regional impact though collective local action.” Other municipalities are beginning to follow the township’s lead, with a similar ordinance recently having been adopted, and several more in the planning stages. There is also legislation pending in the state legislature to develop a plan for the build-out of EVCSs throughout the state. However, with the township’s action, development approvals have recently been granted for a 40,000-square-foot health club and a 250,000-square-foot warehouse that together include 13 EVCSs. pictured above Planning Director, Tom Vigna pictured below Press conference to announce the commitment of funding for the transit village