Sterling Heights, MI Parking Rules: EV Charging (2026)

Sterling Heights sets no stand-alone EV charging standard. The one place the Zoning Ordinance names charging stations is § 14A.04.S, inside Article 14A, the Van Dyke Mixed Use District (VDMUD). The VDMUD is an overlay applied to properties designated Van Dyke Mixed Use in the City of Sterling Heights Master Land Use Plan, along both sides of Van Dyke Avenue between 14 Mile Road and 18 Mile Road. Under § 14A.01 it does not apply to properties zoned for Industrial or One-Family Residential purposes within that corridor, and where Article 14A conflicts with another section of the Zoning Ordinance, Article 14A controls.

Section 14A.04.S allows accessory buildings and uses that are customarily incidental to the permitted and special land uses enumerated in §§ 14A.04 and 14A.05, and it names EV charging stations as one of them. The exclusion is just as specific: drive-in, drive-through, and in-car service are carved out. A charging station in the VDMUD therefore has to be incidental to a principal use, such as a restaurant, a retail business, or residential units above the ground floor of a mixed-use building.

Charging stations appear only as an accessory use, and § 14A.04.V prohibits every use not enumerated in §§ 14A.04 and 14A.05. Section 14A.04.W adds that auto-oriented uses, including automotive service stations, and gasoline service stations and gasoline self-service stations, are prohibited notwithstanding the permitted-use lists.

Two neighboring provisions affect layout. Each building footprint must provide open space equal to 10% of its gross square footage under § 14A.04, and § 14A.07 lets the City Planner reduce the total number of on-site parking spaces administratively, on verifiable justification, with a parking reduction agreement signed by the owner and recorded against the property.