Ordinance No. 2025-01 Related to Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure (Approved 021125)Page 1 of 8
ORDINANCE NO. 2025 - 01
AN ORDINANCE of the City of Bainbridge Island,
Washington, related to electric vehicle charging, amending
Sections 18.15.020 and 18.36.030, adding new Tables
18.15.020-3 and 18.15.020-4, and revising current Table
18.15.020-3 to become Table 18.15.020-5 of the Bainbridge
Island Municipal Code.
WHEREAS, the 2020 Climate Action Plan adopted by the City Council on
November 10, 2020, highlights the importance of reducing transportation emissions, and
identifies increased electric vehicle charging as a strategy that could yield a notable
greenhouse gas reduction and upon which local government could have a strong direct
influence; and
WHEREAS, the 2020 Climate Action Plan includes a target to have 80 percent of
registered vehicles on Bainbridge Island be either electric vehicles or plug-in hybrid
electric vehicles by 2045; and
WHEREAS, providing adequate charging infrastructure can reduce barriers to
electric vehicle adoption; and
WHEREAS, WAC 51-50-0429 set requirements for electric vehicle supply
equipment installation for the construction of new buildings and accessory units, in
accordance with applicable requirements of Chapter 19.28 RCW and the National
Electrical Code, Article 625; and
WHEREAS, the City wishes to be a leader in promoting low carbon forms of
transportation and ensuring that any new, applicable development is planning for future
electric vehicle demand; and
WHEREAS, in 2022, the Planning Commission and City Council considered
draft adopted Ordinance No. 2022-14; and
WHEREAS, notice was given on December 27, 2024, to the Washington State
Department of Commerce in conformance with RCW 36.70A.106 related to Ordinance
No. 2025-01; and
WHEREAS, on November 8, 2022, the City Council adopted Ordinance No.
2022-14; and
WHEREAS, certain provisions of Ordinance No. 2022-14 exceeded the
requirements of the Washington Administrative Code; and
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WHEREAS, in 2024, the City Council requested that the Climate Change
Advisory Committee review the code provisions adopted by Ordinance No. 2022-14; and
WHEREAS, on September 24, 2024, the City Council directed staff to amend the
municipal code to bring the code related to electric vehicle charging for new commercial
development into alignment with the State of Washington requirements; and
WHEREAS, the City Council additionally directed staff to amend the municipal
code for clarity of implementation; and
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission considered the amendments on December
12, 2024; and
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission held a duly noticed public hearing on the
amendments on January 9, 2024, and recommended approval to the City Council; and
WHEREAS, the City Council considered the Planning Commission’s
recommendation on January 28, 2025.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, WASHINGTON, DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Section 18.15.020.B. of the Bainbridge Island Municipal Code is
hereby amended to read as follows:
B. General Requirements.
1. Driveways, parking, and walkways shall accommodate pedestrians, motor
vehicles and bicycles used by occupants or visitors of a structure or use.
Location is subject to review of the planning and engineering departments.
2. No building permit shall be issued until the applicant has submitted satisfactory
plans demonstrating that required parking facilities will be provided and
maintained.
3. Unless authorized by a conditional use permit or this title, the use of property
in a residential zone for commercial parking is prohibited.
4. All driveways and other parking areas, except those serving single-family
residences, shall be surfaced with permanent materials acceptable to the public
works department, and shall be designed to manage stormwater runoff in
accordance with Chapter 15.20 BIMC.
5. Residential parcels are encouraged to have two-track driveways (also known as
Hollywood or wheel strip driveways).
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6. Unless approved by the director, only a single access to public right-of-way is
allowed for an individual lot. More than one access may be allowed by the
director if the director determines, based on drawings or other information
submitted by the applicant, that (a) the proposed site access includes measures
that mitigate any identified negative impacts or effects that would result from
the additional access point(s); and (b) the additional access point(s) will
improve on-site or off-site traffic flow or is necessary for, or will help
facilitate, compliance with other requirements of this chapter.
7. Joint use of required access ways with adjacent properties is encouraged. The
director may approve joint access if the applicant demonstrates to the
satisfaction of the director that the joint access (a) will promote the orderly
development of the surrounding area; or (b) will help reduce or avoid
cumulative adverse impacts that would result from each property accessing the
right-of-way separately; and (c) will not create a safety hazard.
8. With the exception of single-family and duplex buildings on individual lots,
access and parking spaces shall be designed so that no backing movement by a
vehicle, except emergency and service and delivery vehicles, shall be allowed
onto a public right-of-way; provided, that the director may waive this
requirement where no reasonable design alternative exists.
9. No parking space may block access to other parking spaces unless tandem
parking has been approved for a single residence or individual dwelling units
of a multifamily structure.
10. On-street parking created or designated in conjunction with and adjacent to a
project may be included in the parking space calculation upon approval of the
director.
11. When new or expanded development is required to provide parking for more
than 10 cars, the development shall integrate electric vehicle charging
infrastructure as required in BIMC 18.15.020.C.3. For the purposes of this
subsection, expansion means that a development is expanded by more than five
percent of its existing floor area, or by more than five percent of its overall size
in cases where floor area is not applicable, and the requirements of BIMC
18.15.020.C.3 apply to only those spaces associated with the expansion.
12. When a new development is required to provide parking for more than 25 cars,
at least one parking space near the entrance must be reserved and signed for
use by a shared-car program. All parking spaces reserved and signed for use by
a shared-car program must also be EV-capable.
13. The provisions of subsections 11 and 12 are intended to amend and supersede
the state building code provisions in WAC 51-50-0429. Further, the provisions
of subsections 11 and 12 do not apply to single-family residences and
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multifamily residential buildings containing four or fewer residential units as
defined in RCW 19.27.015(4).
14. For all development except for single-family residential, the required parking
for two or more complementary uses may be reduced up to 50 percent when
provided by a common parking lot, but may not be reduced below the highest
parking requirement. The reduction shall be reviewed and authorized by the
director of planning and community development together with a site plan and
design review permit, building permit, or business license, depending on when
the parking space reduction is proposed.
Section 2. Section 18.15.020.C. of the Bainbridge Island Municipal Code is
hereby amended to add a new subsection as follows:
3. Electric vehicle (“EV”) charging infrastructure. Electric vehicle charging
infrastructure shall be provided for new or expanded buildings, and new paved
surface parking lots and parking garages, according to this section and Tables
18.15.020-3 and 18.15.020-4. Where a building or development contains more
than one occupancy, the electric vehicle charging infrastructure percentages of
Table 18.15.020-3 shall be applied to the number of spaces required for each
occupancy.
a. Rounding. When calculating the number of required EV parking spaces
required to be served by EV charging infrastructure, any fraction or portion of
an EV parking a space required shall be rounded up to the nearest whole
number.
b. Higher levels of EV charging infrastructure can satisfy lower EV charging
infrastructure requirements. EVSE parking spaces installed at a greater
percentage than required by Table 18.15.020-3 may count toward meeting
EV-capable or EV-ready parking space requirements of Table 18.15.020-3.
EV-Ready parking spaces installed at a greater percentage than required by
Table 18.15.020-3 may count toward meeting EV-capable parking space
requirements of Table 18.15.020-3.
c. Ten percent of the accessible parking spaces, rounded up to the next whole
number, shall have EV Charging Stations supply equipment and 10 percent
shall be EV-ready. There shall be at least one accessible space for each type of
EV charging system. The EV charging infrastructure may also serve adjacent
parking spaces not designated as accessible parking. A maximum of 10
percent of the accessible parking spaces, rounded to the next whole number,
are allowed to be included in the total number of electric vehicle parking
spaces required under Table 18.15.020-3.
d. Where EV-ready and EV-capable exterior on-grade surface parking spaces are
located more than 4 feet from a building, raceways shall be extended to a pull
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box or stub in the vicinity of the designated space and shall be protected from
vehicles by a curb or other device.
e. Where an electric vehicle load management system is installed to fulfill the
requirements of Table 18.15.020-3, the maximum number of EVSE parking
spaces that may be connected to the same electrical circuit in the building is as
shown in Table 18.15.020-4.
f. All EV charging infrastructure shall be installed in accordance with the
National Electrical Code (NFPA 70). For EV-ready parking spaces, the branch
circuit shall be identified as “Electric Vehicle Ready” in the service panel or
subpanel directory, and the termination location shall be marked as “Electric
Vehicle Ready.”
g. Incentives for providing additional EV charging infrastructure.
i. If DC fast charging stations (480 volts) are provided rather than Level 2
charging stations for the required EVSE parking spaces, the total required
number of vehicle parking spaces may be reduced by 5%.
ii. If one space served by electric vehicle charging station EV supply equipment is provided for every 5 required parking stalls spaces, the total required number of vehicle parking spaces may be reduced by 5%.
h. Electric vehicle charging stations supply equipment is are reserved solely for
charging of electric vehicles. All EVSE parking spaces shall have designated
signage and pavement markings as set forth in RCW 46.08.185. Contact
information for the charging station supply equipment operator shall be posted
on the charging station supply equipment in order to report malfunctions or
other issues.
Table 18.15.020-3 Electric vehicle (“EV”) charging infrastructure
Building Code
Occupancy
Number of EVSE
Parking Spaces
Number of EV-
Ready Parking
Spaces
Number of EV-
Capable Parking
Spaces
Group A, B, E, F, H, I, M, and S occupancies (nonresidential buildings)
New buildings 10% of total parking
spaces
310% of total parking
spaces
210% of total parking
spaces
Existing buildings
proposed for
expansion
5% of total parking
spaces associated
with expansion
10% of total parking
spaces associated with
expansion
20% of total parking
spaces associated with
expansion
New Paved Surface
Parking Lots and
Parking Garage Uses
10% of total parking
spaces
30% of total parking
spaces
20% of total parking
spaces
Group R-2 buildings with 5 or more dwelling units
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New buildings 10% of total parking
spaces
25% of total parking
spaces
10% of total parking
spaces
Existing buildings
proposed for
expansion
5% of total parking
spaces
10% of total parking
spaces
20% of total parking
spaces
Other Group R occupancies
Buildings that do not
contain more than
two dwelling units
Not required One for each dwelling Not required
Dwelling units with
private garages
Not required One for each dwelling Not required
All other Group R
occupancies
10% of total parking
spaces
25% of total parking
spaces
10% of total parking
spaces
[1] Note: Building Code Occupancies are defined in the International Building Code and
the International Residential Code.
[2] Exceptions:
1. Except for Group A, Group E, and Group M occupancies, on-site parking with
less than 10 parking spaces shall not be required to comply with Table 18.15.020-3.
2. Group A, Group E, and Group M occupancies shall comply with one of the
following, whichever is greater:
a. The provisions of Table 18.15.020-3 shall apply only to designated
employee parking spaces.
b. One of each 200 parking spaces or fraction thereof shall be EV-Ready.
One of each 200 parking spaces or fraction thereof shall be an EVSE Parking Space.
Table 18.15.020-4 Maximum Number of EVSE Per Circuit Breaker Rating
Minimum Circuit
Breaker Rating
(AMPS)
Maximum Number of
EVSE Per Circuit
20 1
30 2
40 4
50 5
60 6
70 7
80 8
90 10
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100 11
125 14
150 17
Section 3. Section 18.36.030 of the Bainbridge Island Municipal Code is hereby
amended:
“Electric Vehicle” or “EV” means a vehicle registered for on-road use, primarily
powered by an electric motor that draws current from a rechargeable storage source that
is charged by being plugged into an electrical current source.
“Electric Vehicle Capable Parking Space” or “EV-Capable Parking Space” means
a parking space that is provided with served by a listed raceway capable of
accommodating a minimum of 40-ampere dedicated 208/240-volt branch circuit. The
raceway shall terminate into a cabinet, box, or other enclosure in close proximity to the
proposed location of the EV-Capable parking space. Raceways and related components
that are planned to be installed underground, and in enclosed, inaccessible, or concealed
areas and spaces, shall be installed at the time of original construction.
“Electric Vehicle Ready Parking Space” or “EV-Ready Parking Space” means a
parking space that is provided with served by a minimum 40-ampere dedicated 208/240-
volt branch circuit for electric vehicle supply equipment that is terminated at a receptacle,
or junction box, or electric vehicle supply equipment within the parking space in order to
allow for future installation of electric vehicle supply equipment.
“Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment” or “EVSE” means the conductors, including
the ungrounded, grounded, and equipment grounding conductors, and the electric vehicle
connectors, attachment plugs, personnel protection system, and all other fittings, devices,
power outlets, or apparatus installed specifically for the purpose of transferring energy
between the premises wiring and an electric vehicle.
“Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment Parking Space” or “EVSE Parking Space”
means a parking space with electric vehicle supply equipment capable of supplying
current at 208/240 volts.
“Electric Vehicle Load Management System” means a system designed to
optimize a property’s charging loads so that electricity is equitably distributed among
multiple electric vehicle supply equipment simultaneously.
Section 4. Severability. Should any section, paragraph, sentence, clause, or
phrase of this ordinance, or its application to any person or circumstance, be declared
unconstitutional or otherwise invalid for any reason, or should any portion of this
ordinance be preempted by state or federal law or regulation, such decision or preemption
shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance or its application
to other persons or circumstances.
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Section 5. This ordinance shall take effect on February 19, 2025.
PASSED by the City Council this 11th day of January 2025.
APPROVED by the Mayor this 11th day of January 2025.
Ashley Mathews, Mayor
ATTEST/AUTHENTICATE:
Christine Brown, MMC, City Clerk
FILED WITH THE CITY CLERK: January 24, 2025
PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL: February 11, 2025
PUBLISHED: February 14, 2025
EFFECTIVE DATE: February 19, 205
ORDINANCE NUMBER: 2025-01