San Clemente, CA Parking Rules: EV Charging (2026)

Chapter 15.19, added by Ordinance No. 1792 on June 3, 2025, sets up San Clemente's expedited, streamlined permitting process for electric vehicle charging stations, as required by Government Code Section 65850.7. Section 15.19.020 states the purpose is to comply with that state law and promote EV use while promoting public health and safety and preventing specific adverse impacts in the installation and use of such charging stations. The chapter applies to all EV charging systems citywide under Section 15.19.030; systems already permitted before the chapter's effective date are grandfathered unless they undergo physical modifications that require new permitting, and routine maintenance or like-kind replacement never needs a new permit.

Under Section 15.19.050, the city must post all required application documents on its public website, adopt an expedited-review checklist by council resolution modeled on the state's Plug-In Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Permitting Checklist, and accept electronic submittals by email, internet portal or fax. Section 15.19.060 makes review of a complete application a nondiscretionary permit, limited to whether it meets local, state and federal health and safety requirements, and bars the city from conditioning approval on association (HOA) approval. If the Building Official finds in writing, based on substantial evidence, that an installation would have a specific, adverse impact on public health or safety, defined in Section 15.19.010 as a significant, quantifiable, direct and unavoidable impact based on objective written standards, the applicant can be routed instead to a discretionary use permit before the Planning Commission. That decision to require a use permit may be appealed to the Planning Commission within 15 calendar days, and a Planning Commission denial of the use permit itself can be appealed further to the City Council under Government Code Section 65850.5.