Bellingham, WA Parking Rules: EV Charging (2026)

The city's electric vehicle charging program, adopted under Chapter 11.37 BMC, exists to encourage 'the public's equitable adoption of electric vehicles to support the city's Climate Action Plan' (BMC 11.37.010). Bellingham defines an electric vehicle charging station as a marked space in an on-street or off-street public parking facility 'owned or controlled by the city' served by city-owned, publicly available battery charging equipment (BMC 11.37.020). Under BMC 11.37.030, any member of the public may use a station, but must pay the posted per-session fee and follow any posted hours-of-operation or time limits, and the vehicle must be connected to the charging equipment and actively charging while parked there.

The per-session fee is set by city council resolution and is designed to be cost-based, recouping electricity costs, administration, vendor management fees, maintenance, and enforcement costs, and it may also recover capital costs of the equipment and fund expansion of the charging network (BMC 11.37.040). Each station must carry vertical signage identifying it as a publicly available charging station, disclosing all session rates at the point of sale, and stating the monetary penalty for occupying the space without charging (BMC 11.37.050). Parking in a marked electric vehicle space without being plugged into the charging equipment is separately listed as a prohibited use in Bellingham's general stopping-and-standing ordinance, BMC 11.33.060(A)(41), unless the vehicle is authorized by state law to park there without charging. Enforcement runs through the city's parking services division and municipal court under the civil-infraction procedure that governs Chapter 11.33 and 11.36 BMC violations.