Memphis, TN Parking Rules: EV Charging (2026)

J, "Commercial Electric Vehicle Charge Station" is regulated together with convenience stores with gas pumps and gas stations as a single commercial use category. Gasoline pumps, tanks, vents, EV chargers and pump islands must sit at least 20 feet from any side or rear property line or right-of-way. No sign, pump, tank or EV charger may sit within 20 feet of any residential district, and for stations constructed on or after August 21, 2012, or reactivated after sitting vacant more than 365 days, that residential separation grows to 125 feet from a single-family residential district (the ROW carve-out does not apply to that 125-foot line).

5 is also required along any side of the property adjacent to a residential use, and freestanding vents are barred outright. In the CMU-3 district specifically, a station built after January 28, 2013 (or reactivated after a year's discontinuance) that is not located at the intersection of two arterials, an arterial and a collector, or two collectors on the Long Range Transportation Plan's Functional Classification Map must obtain a Special Use Permit, with the Land Use Control Board weighing proximity to other gas/EV stations and to single-family zoning.

1) draws the line between charger types: an EV charging unit installed as a stand-alone accessory (no fee charged to the driver) may go in any zoning district, but a commercial, fee-based charging unit is limited to nonresidential zoning districts. Because Memphis and unincorporated Shelby County share this single zoning instrument, these siting rules apply the same way to a station sited inside Memphis city limits as to one in the unincorporated county.