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Residents urge Scappoose to address overnight use of library EV chargers, city staff to review options
Summary
Residents told the City Council that a Tesla charging station at the Scappoose Public Library is creating noise, parking and safety problems on nearby Second Street; council and staff agreed to research existing agreements and enforcement options.
Emma Degerness, a Scappoose resident and Scott Lewis High School student, told the City Council on June 2 that a Tesla charging station beside the Scappoose Public Library has created repeated noise, parking and safety problems for neighbors on Second Street.
Degerness said visitors who use the chargers often occupy multiple parking spaces, play loud music late into the night, leave headlights on and sometimes remain in vehicles for long periods. “We deserve a neighborhood where residents feel safe, respected, and heard,” she told the council.
Her uncle, John Deggernitz, and another nearby resident, Ryan Seeley, described lights shining into homes and music that disrupts people who work from home. “If there was a sign that could be put up to say, turn the vehicles off … and all loud music, I think would be great,” Seeley said.
The council did not take a formal vote on the matter. City staff said they would research the installation agreement and legal limits before recommending any regulation. A staff speaker noted there may be an existing agreement with Columbia River PUD or the charger provider and that the property lies within the city’s downtown overlay, which has distinct rules.
Councilors and staff discussed several possible, nonbinding responses: researching the PUD/provider agreement, checking whether local parking or noise ordinances apply, assessing whether signage or time-limited use is allowed under the agreement, and exploring traffic calming near the library (for example, speed control measures near the playground).
Police Chief Lewellen (title per transcript) and city staff said enforcement of existing parking, noise and speed rules is an option but that some remedies (for example changing the charger operator's settings) might be constrained by the PUD/provider agreement.
City Manager Ben Bergner asked staff to research the agreement language and return with options; council members said they would consider code changes only after staff had completed that review. Staff also said they would follow up with the residents who testified.
The council’s next step is a staff report on the legal status of the charger installation and recommended administrative or code steps; no ordinance or binding action was adopted at the June 2 meeting.
