James City County, VA Parking Rules: EV Charging (2026)

Sec. 24-63 permits electric vehicle charging stations of any level as an accessory use to off-street parking in every zoning district in James City County, so a landowner does not need a special use permit or rezoning just to add chargers to an existing or planned lot. Parking spaces built out for EV charging can be counted toward the minimum parking a site is required to provide, so chargers do not force a developer to build extra spaces on top of the code minimum. At least one charging space per parking lot must meet ADA accessibility standards, though the code specifically bars designating that space as exclusively for use by persons with disabilities, keeping it available to any EV driver.

Every charging station must be screened from view outside the parking lot using landscaping, fencing or berms, and the county allows a site to satisfy that screening through the existing parking lot landscaping standards; stations retrofitted into an already-built lot may be required to add extra landscaping if the planning director finds the existing screening insufficient. Stations expected to operate after dark must have adequate lighting under the ordinance's lighting division, and a lot's existing nighttime parking lot lighting can satisfy that requirement, though a retrofit may again be required to add lighting if the planning director determines the existing fixtures do not adequately illuminate the new equipment.