Rancho Cordova, CA Parking Rules: EV Charging (2026)

09, adopted by Ordinance 7-2017, requires the building department to run a nondiscretionary, administrative review of any application to install an electric vehicle charging station. Review is limited to whether the installation meets local, state and federal health and safety requirements: the building official cannot second-guess siting or aesthetics. The city publishes a standard checklist on its website, and an application that satisfies the checklist is deemed complete; incomplete applications get a written correction notice listing every deficiency. Applicants may submit everything electronically, including an electronic signature in place of a wet signature, and must show compliance with the serving utility's interconnection policies before approval.

If the building official finds, based on substantial evidence, a specific and quantifiable adverse impact on public health or safety, the city can require a discretionary use permit instead, but that finding must rest on objective standards in place when the application was deemed complete, and the official's decision is appealable to the planning commission. Installed equipment must meet Article 625 of the California Electrical Code plus SAE, NEMA and UL standards, be incorporated into the building's electrical load calculations as a continuous load, and be anchored per the California Building or Residential Code.

050 separately bars the building official from conditioning any charging station permit on approval by a common interest development association, closing off the HOA veto that otherwise slows rooftop solar and similar installations citywide.