Guadalupe enacts new parking restrictions to increase turnover at public EV chargers

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For a full battery, electric vehicles on empty parked at either of Guadalupe’s two free charging stations need to stay plugged in for about 11 hours, according to city staff. But anyone caught parked in those spots for more than four hours is now subject to ticketed fines thanks to a new city ordinance.

During its last meeting of January, the Guadalupe City Council sided with staff’s recommendation to begin enforcing a timed restriction—not previously addressed in the municipal code—at the city-owned charging stations, located in front of the Guadalupe Senior Center and the Veterans Hall.

What staff and the council didn’t see eye to eye on from the outset, however, was how short of a time duration to enforce.

Originally, staff suggested an eight-hour limit due to the slow speed of Guadalupe’s free chargers, although four-hour restrictions are common in many cities, City Attorney Philip Sinco said at the council’s Jan. 28 meeting.

“[Four hours] was initially what I was leaning toward, but, … our chargers are a little bit older,” Sinco said. “It takes about 11 hours to fully recharge a vehicle. Yeah, they’re slow chargers. So, it seemed that an eight-hour restriction was probably more reasonable. … That would get a vehicle most of the way charged.”

After hearing Sinco briefly summarize complaints from the public, about “people allegedly hogging the parking spaces, not letting others use the EV stations,” Councilmember Whitney Furness said the free city-owned stations should help someone get from A to B, but should not be regarded as spots to achieve a full charge to begin with, especially due to the speed issue.

“If it’s the same as plugging it into a wall, … they could do it at home,” Furness said.

An eight-hour restriction could also be perceived as a half measure if the city’s goal is to stop people from hogging the charging stations, Police Chief Michael Cash explained at the meeting.

“Eight hours is problematic to a certain degree,” Cash said. “Having eight hours, you pretty much take up a large percentage of the day. … That would only allow maybe one car; maybe two at most.”

At the City Council’s prior meeting on Jan. 14, Guadalupe resident George Alvarez complained during public comment about certain occupants of the charging stations.

“There’s one or two guys who use it every day, and [don’t] give … other people the ability to use it,” Alvarez said.

Before the City Council voted (4-0; Councilmember Eugene Costa Jr. was absent) in favor of the time restriction—altered to reflect a four-hour limit rather than the original eight-hour limit—at the Jan. 28 meeting, Cash confirmed that there was at least one individual the police department has observed leaving a vehicle parked and on charge overnight. 

“They park, and then they’ll take their scooter out and go home,” Cash said. “We’re not going to say where they go home to, but we know the person.”

This article appears in Feb 6-16, 2025.