2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 31 - GOVERNMENT - MUNICIPAL (§§ 31-1-101 — 31-35-712) › POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF CITIES AND TOWNS (§§ 31-15-101 — 31-35-712) › Article 23 - PLANNING AND ZONING (§§ 31-23-101 — 31-23-316) › Part 3 - ZONING (§§ 31-23-301 — 31-23-316) › Section 31-23-315 - Parking and electric vehicle charging stations - legislative declaration - conflict of law - definitions

(1)
(a)
The general assembly finds that:
(I)
Colorado has adopted economy-wide greenhouse gas emission goals of, at minimum, a twenty-six percent reduction by 2025, a fifty percent reduction by 2030, and a ninety percent reduction by 2050;
(II)
The governor's "Colorado Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap", released on January 14, 2021, identified transportation as a leading source of greenhouse gas pollution and identified vehicle electrification as a key strategy for reducing greenhouse gas pollution from the transportation sector;
(III)
Motor vehicle pollution, including greenhouse gas emissions, does not stay within the geographic boundaries of the local government where it is emitted;
(IV)
According to the United States department of energy, an electric vehicle produces an average of less than one-fourth of the emissions over its lifetime than the average emissions of a motor vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine;
(V)
Sales of electric vehicles currently account for more than ten percent of all new vehicle sales in Colorado, and this market share is projected to increase to more than eighty percent by 2032;
(VI)
Buildings constructed today will need to accommodate higher numbers of electric vehicles within the lifetime of these buildings;
(VII)
People may forgo purchasing or driving an electric vehicle because they are concerned about the availability of charging stations;
(VIII)
Local government provisions that set minimum requirements for parking may create a disincentive to install charging stations if a parking space served by a charging station is not counted toward meeting the minimum parking requirement; and
(IX)
Fewer charging stations act as a disincentive to purchase or drive an electric vehicle.
(b)
The general assembly declares that minimum parking requirements, to the degree that they lower the number of charging stations available to electric vehicle drivers, decrease electric vehicle use, which causes more pollutants to be emitted into the environment and lowers the air quality of other local government jurisdictions and Colorado as a whole. Therefore, minimum parking requirements are a matter of mixed local and statewide concern to the degree that they lower the number of charging stations available to electric vehicle drivers.
(2)
For the purposes of any minimum parking requirement imposed by the governing body of a municipality:
(a)
Any parking space served by an electric vehicle charging station or any parking space used to site electric vehicle charging equipment must be counted as at least one standard automobile parking space; and
(b)
Any van-accessible parking space that is designed to accommodate a person in a wheelchair, is served by an electric vehicle charging station, and is not designated as parking reserved for a person with a disability under section
42-4-1208
must be counted as at least two standard automobile parking spaces.
(2.5)
(a)
For an electric vehicle charging station constructed or replaced on or after January 1, 2026, no fewer than five percent or one vehicle charging space should incorporate the standards from the access board until applicable regulations are issued by the federal department of justice or the federal department of transportation.
(b)
As used in this subsection (2.5):
(I)
"Access board" means the United States access board.
(II)
"Electric vehicle charger" means a device with one or more charging ports and connectors for charging electric vehicles.
(III)
"Electric vehicle charging station" or "charging station" means a common location with one or more electric vehicle chargers.
(IV)
"Replaced" means substantially modified or substituted with another unit, as indicated by a change in the serial number, electric vehicle supply equipment ID, or EVSE ID, or model name.
(V)
"Vehicle charging space" means a space to park an electric vehicle for charging.
(3)
(a)
Notwithstanding section
31-23-309
, this section controls if there is a conflict between this section and another section in this part 3 or between this section and a regulation made under authority of this part 3.
(b)
This section does not lower the protections provided for people with disabilities, including the number of parking spaces for people that are mobility impaired, than the protections provided by the federal "Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990",
42 U.S.C. sec. 12101
et seq., and parts 6 and 8 of article
34
of title
24
.
Amended by 2024 Ch. 322,§ 4, eff. 6/3/2024.
Added by 2023 Ch. 245,§ 7, eff. 5/23/2023.