Roanoke, VA Parking Rules: EV Charging (2026)

City Code Sec. 2-403(f) sets four supplemental standards for electric vehicle charging stations citywide. First, any station must provide and maintain a landscaping strip of evergreen shrubs, meeting the minimum planting sizes in Sec. 2-642, between the charging equipment and the adjacent right-of-way, with the shrub species standards drawn from Sec. 2-649. Second, despite the general rule that accessory structures can't sit closer to the street than the principal building, EV charging stations are specifically permitted as an allowable encroachment into the front yard, letting property owners place chargers near the curb for driver access.

Third, signage is allowed for individual charging stations but capped at four square feet per bollard, keeping station identification modest compared to standard commercial signage allowances elsewhere in the zoning code. Fourth, the equipment itself must be kept fully functional at all times, and the station must display a phone number or other contact information so the public can report non-functioning or malfunctioning equipment or other problems. These standards apply in every zoning district where EV charging stations are a permitted use, layered on top of any district-specific use restrictions and the general accessory-use standards in Sec. 2-403(a)-(c).