Electric vehicle owners may soon have to pay to use city-owned charging stations in Valparaiso.
Under a proposed overhaul of the city's parking regulations, those using charging stations would have to pay using a mobile app. Parking spaces with charging stations would also be limited to electric vehicles that are actively charging, except for handicap spaces.
Development Director George Douglas says the city already has some charging stations but few regulations. "If I buy an EV vehicle, I'm not going to charge it at home. I could just take it down to the city lot, and now I could plug it in and I'm charging for free all day long," Douglas told the city council last week. "And so the idea is it's really meant for people that are coming down that need a quick hit."
It's part of a larger set of changes in preparation for the new Lincoln Highway Garage.
The proposed ordinance designates 152 garage spaces for free public parking up to three hours, or longer for those who get a $100 yearly permit from the city. 127 spaces will be set aside for residents of the Linc apartments. Another 73 will allow public parking during the day and apartment parking after 5:00 p.m.
The garage will have seven EV chargers, with the possibility to add up to six more. They'd be available for public use during the day and apartment residents' use overnight.
The city would charge the managers of the Linc $250 per vehicle permit per year. Mayor Jon Costas said that money would go mainly toward parking enforcement, not the cost of the garage itself.
"We didn't build it to create an income source," Costas said. "We built it to add vibrancy to the downtown as part of the Linc project, and I think everybody benefits from that."
The ordinance would also raise parking fines for the first time since 2010.
The fine for a two-hour violation, three-hour violation, meter violation, restricted parking violation or a “city permit only” violation would go up to $25. A no parking, alley parking, double parking and yellow zone parking violation would carry a fine of $50. The fine for a handicapped, fire hydrant, fire zone and fire lane parking violation would go up to $100. Violations at charging stations or the Lincoln Highway Garage would have a fine of $75.
The ordinance will be up for final approval at the August 12 city council meeting.
