CLAYTON, MO (KMOX) - A bill to change the electric vehicle charging station law in St. Louis County gained final approval Tuesday night by a 4 to 3 vote. It would place less of a burden on businesses than the original ordinance, but opposition remains.
The original bill was too burdensome on business, according to Councilwoman Kelli Dunaway, who authored it. She decided to lower the requirements. It basically required developers to include electric vehicle charging stations into new or renovated parking lots. The new requirement only impacts lots with more than 30 spaces.
Councilman Ernie Trakas was among 3 no votes, pointing to local abandoned malls. "The only hope of re-imagining and re-purposing these malls as vital retail outlets is to take away impediments, not put them in."
Councilman Mark Harder says EV drivers charge at home. "Even if these things are required I don't think they're going to be used to the extent that some people think they will be," said Harder. "We'll have old technology getting rusty on parking lots. And requiring someone else to pay for this."
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Councilwoman Sholanda Webb says the county can't necessarily wait for the free market, "I don't think we should wait and wait and wait and then complain, 'why are we not growing like Nashvile? Why are we not growing like Indiana?'"
The new version requires parking lots with more than 30 spaces to have charging stations.
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