LEBANON — The Lebanon City Council will consider an amendment to the city’s zoning ordinances that would require some developers to build electric vehicle charging stations in future projects.

The amendment was prepared by the city’s planning department staff in consultation with the Lebanon Energy Advisory Committee.

It was opposed in a 4-1 vote by the Lebanon Planning Board, when only six members of the nine-member body were present. City Council representative Karen Zook abstained from voting, and Cori Hirai cast the sole vote in favor of the amendment.

It will appear before the City Council for final consideration on Jan. 18.

The amendment would create requirements for electric vehicle, or “EV,” charging infrastructure in certain categories of new residential and nonresidential developments.

“Preparedness of building and site utilities saves property owners from the cost of future retrofits that would be significantly greater than the upfront costs and potentially a barrier to EV implementation in the community as a result,” the proposal reads, adding that installation of charging infrastructure during the construction phase is “four to six times less expensive … as opposed to a retrofit.”

In the motion opposing the amendment, the Planning Board wrote that developers are already responding to increased demand for electric vehicle infrastructure of their own accord, citing the charging station at the Walmart plaza in West Lebanon.

The motion also argued for incentives rather than “restrictive regulations,” adding that “Lebanon’s homeowners know their own circumstances, their own interests and can make their own decisions.”

But in a letter to city councilors following the Planning Board’s vote, the Lebanon Energy Advisory Committee, also known as LEAC, argued that including charging infrastructure in code changes “will make the shift to EVs more equitable.”

Considering the push for more residential development in Lebanon, now’s the time to update zoning, said Sherry Boschert, a LEAC member who has spearheaded the proposed amendments.

“It’s important to give those in apartments and condominiums access to EVs, because they’re the ones who can most benefit from the savings of driving those vehicles,” she said. “And if we want to reach our greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals, we can’t do it unless we help facilitate this shift towards electric vehicles.”

Lebanon is aiming to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by more than a quarter by 2025.

The Planning Board also questioned whether Liberty Utilities could handle the additional demand if more charging stations were to come online. Assistant Mayor Clifton Below, who is the City Council representative to the Energy Advisory Committee, said that this would not be a problem.

Like any regulated utility, Liberty “(has) an obligation to provide adequate capacity in their distribution system for whatever load shows up, when it shows up,” Below told the Valley News in an email. “So whether Liberty today has all the capacity needed to serve any amount of EV charging from none to 100% of all vehicles, doesn’t really matter.”

Planning Department Director Tim Corwin is hopeful that the nine-member City Council will green-light the amendments next month, he said. “Frankly, I didn’t hear any concerns expressed by the councilors when we originally presented these amendments to them in October,” Corwin said. “So it’s still our expectation that the council remains interested in adopting these and will do so.”

Frances Mize is a Report for America corps member. She can be reached at fmize@vnews.com or 603-727-3242.

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