Riverside, CA Parking Rules: EV Charging (2026)
Key Facts
- Review type
- Nondiscretionary administrative approval
- Applies to
- EV chargers and hydrogen fueling stations
- State law basis
- Gov. Code § 65850.7
- Denial standard
- Written findings, unmitigable impact only
- Appeal body
- City Planning Commission
Summary
Riverside reviews electric vehicle charging station and hydrogen fueling station permits through a nondiscretionary administrative process under RMC Chapter 16.23. If an application meets the City's checklist and creates no specific adverse health or safety impact, the Building and Safety Division must approve it.
The purpose of this ordinance is to create an expedited, streamlined electric vehicle charging station and hydrogen fueling station permitting process that complies with Government Code section 65850.7 to achieve timely and cost-effective installations of electric vehicle charging stations and hydrogen fueling stations. ... The Building Official shall implement an administrative review process to expedite approval of electric vehicle charging stations and hydrogen fueling stations. Where the application meets the requirements of the approved checklist and standards and there are no specific, adverse impacts upon public health or safety, the Building and Safety Division shall complete the building permit approval process, which is nondiscretionary. ... The Building Official may require an applicant to apply for a special use permit if the official finds, based on substantial evidence, that the electric vehicle charging station and hydrogen fueling station could have a specific, adverse impact upon the public health and safety.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 33).
Full Breakdown
23, added by Ord. 7, California's law requiring cities to streamline EV charger and hydrogen fueling permits. It covers every EV charging station and hydrogen fueling station in the City; stations legally established before the ordinance are grandfathered unless later modifications materially change their size, type, or components. An eligible "electric vehicle charging station" is EVSE built to comply with Article 625 of the California Electrical Code that delivers power from an outside source into a plug-in vehicle. 050, the Building and Safety Division must post required documents on the City's public website, accept electronic submittal through City-run software, accept electronic signatures, and adopt a compliance checklist, drawing on the Hydrogen Station Permitting Guidebook and the Zero-Emissions Vehicles in California: Community Readiness Guidebook from the Governor's Office of Planning and Research.
060 puts teeth behind the streamlining: the Building Official's review is limited to whether the application meets local, state, and federal health and safety requirements, and if it meets the checklist with no specific adverse impact, approval is nondiscretionary, the City cannot exercise case-by-case judgment to hold it up. Incomplete applications get a written correction notice detailing every deficiency, mirroring the solar chapter's process. Only if the Building Official finds substantial evidence of a specific, quantifiable, unavoidable health or safety impact can the City require a discretionary special use permit instead, and even then any conditions imposed must mitigate that impact at the lowest possible cost. 070.
Violations & Fines
There's no standalone penalty schedule in Chapter 16.23; noncompliant installations are enforced through the City's general building-permit and code-enforcement provisions. The chapter's real leverage point is the special-use-permit trigger: if the Building Official finds substantial evidence of a specific, adverse public-health-or-safety impact, the applicant must apply for a discretionary special use permit, and the City can only deny it with written findings that the impact can't feasibly be mitigated. That denial, or the underlying decision to require a special use permit at all, can be appealed to the City Planning Commission.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Riverside require discretionary approval for a home EV charger?
When can Riverside require a special use permit for an EV charging station?
What law is Riverside's EV charging permit chapter based on?
Can I appeal a Riverside decision requiring a special use permit for a charger?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Riverside
California rules heatmap·Compare Riverside to another location·View the California parking rules overview
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