goHunterdon and the Hunterdon County Department of Planning and Land Use hosted a virtual “Breakfast Talk” on New Jersey’s Model Statewide Electric Vehicle (EV) Municipal Ordinance on March 11, 2022. Approximately 48 local municipal representatives participated in the session which was held via Zoom.

Panelists included Maria G. Connolly, PP, AICP, Local Planning Services, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, Mark Warner, ChargeEVC, Cathleen Lewis, New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, Andrea Friedman, NJ Department of Environmental Protection, and Joe Lustig, Raritan Township Environmental Commission.

“The virtual ‘Breakfast Talk’ format is a great way to share useful, timely information about topics of concern with our municipal partners,” said Carrie Fellows, Director of the Department of Planning & Land Use. “We’re delighted to partner with goHunterdon for this program on the new EV Ordinance, and bring this panel of experts to a Hunterdon County audience.”

The Model Statewide Municipal Electric Vehicle (EV) Ordinance was signed into law by Governor Phil Murphy in July 2021 and published by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs on September 1, 2021. The law requires that Electric Vehicle Supply/Service Equipment (EVSE) and Make-Ready parking spaces be designated as a permitted accessory use in all zoning or use districts and establishes associated installation and parking requirements related to EVSE in New Jersey’s 565 municipalities.

The intent of the model statewide ordinance is to ensure that municipalities are requiring installation of EVSE and Make-Ready parking spaces in a consistent manner and also to provide an ordinance that can be easily used by every municipality with no or minimal amendments by the municipality.

The model statewide ordinance is mandatory and is in effect for all municipalities. Municipalities are allowed to make changes to the “Reasonable Standards” portion of the ordinance through the normal ordinance amendment process, but may not change the parts of the ordinance that were required by the legislation (installation and parking requirements). For municipalities with existing EV ordinances, the statewide ordinance supersedes those requirements.

A recording of the March 11 session is available on goHunterdon’s YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/GdbPTmdPN-Y