Union County, NC Parking Rules: EV Charging (2026)

090 of the Unified Development Ordinance treats electric vehicle charging as an accessory use rather than a separately permitted land use, which means Union County does not require a standalone permit for installing a charger. Private, restricted-access EV charging stations are permitted as accessory uses in every zoning district in unincorporated Union County, from the largest RA-zoned parcel to the tightest B-6 commercial lot. Public EV charging stations are likewise allowed as accessory uses, but only in conjunction with an already-allowed nonresidential use, so a stand-alone charging plaza is not authorized outright the way a private home charger is.

The section folds charging into the county's parking rules two ways: charging stations may be counted toward the minimum off-street parking spaces a development must provide, and any public charging space must be reserved for parking and charging electric vehicles, though an electric vehicle may still use a normal public parking space under the same rules that apply to any other car. The only design standard the ordinance imposes is on equipment placement: charging equipment, meaning the cords, pedestals and dispensing hardware, must be designed and located so it does not impede pedestrian, bicycle or wheelchair movement or create a safety hazard on a sidewalk.

Because the section sits in Article 35's accessory-use chapter alongside geothermal systems and solar panels, it is reviewed the same way those systems are, as an add-on to an already-approved principal use.