Bowie, MD Parking Rules: EV Charging (2026)

Section 26-43 of the City Code governs minor revisions to special exceptions, the discretionary zoning approvals that let certain nonresidential or unusual uses operate in a base zone that would not otherwise allow them. Ordinarily, any change to an approved special exception, from enlarging a building to revising the site plan, forces the owner to file and win approval of an entirely new special exception application under § 26-43H(1). Subsection G(3) carves out a single, specific exception for charging infrastructure: a change made solely to add one or more electric vehicle charging stations to an already-approved special exception skips that new-application process altogether.

Instead, the Planning Director can review and approve the addition directly, and once approved the applicant only has to submit a copy of the revised site plan to the Department of Planning and Sustainability so the record reflects the change. This provision does not create a citywide right to install EV chargers on ordinary residential or commercial parking; it applies narrowly to sites that already hold a City special exception approval, such as places of worship, schools, or certain commercial and institutional uses sited in a residential base zone.

Decisions of the Planning Director on other special exception matters can reach the City Council or the Advisory Planning Board under § 26-43E, but the EV charging streamlining in G(3) is designed precisely to avoid that longer review track.