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Plum Committee directs EV-charging zoning, limits digital signage unless station operational
Summary
The Planning and Land Use Committee voted unanimously to direct the Department of City Planning to draft an ordinance defining electric-vehicle charging as a primary use citywide and to prepare standards for approvals and maintenance, while keeping existing city sign rules in force and limiting revenue-generating signage if stations are not operable.
The Planning and Land Use Committee voted unanimously to instruct the Department of City Planning (DCP) to draft an ordinance defining electric-vehicle charging as a primary use citywide and to set standards for ministerial and discretionary approvals.
Committee members said the change is intended to speed deployment of chargers while keeping existing city signage rules intact. The committee also directed DCP to coordinate with the Department of Building and Safety (LADBS), the City Attorney, and other departments on technical rules and with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power on equitable siting for renter households and disadvantaged communities.
The nut graf: The committee sought to reconcile two goals that emerged repeatedly in the hearing — accelerate installation of EV charging infrastructure while avoiding a new, citywide program of off-site digital advertising. DCP staff warned that explicit allowance of off-site digital signage could trigger additional environmental review and complicate adoption of an EV ordinance; members instead instructed staff to treat signage under existing sign rules and to require that any revenue-generating signage be disabled if the charging station is inoperable.
DCP Deputy City Planner Roberto Luna summarized the department's analysis and recommended continuing prior committee instructions: define EV charging in the zoning code, set performance standards and approval pathways, and identify funding to pay for the CEQA analysis (estimated up to $150,000). Luna said the report focused on off-site digital signage because on-site signs similar to a gas station's pump signs could be accommodated under existing code in many cases.
Several council members pressed staff for detail. Committee Chair Paul Blumenfield said he wanted any digital signage to be turned off when a charger is not operational: "I don't want these things to have signage on them, but then...they're making revenue on the sign and they don't do the maintenance," he said. Council member Mitch O'Farrell (acting in committee) asked staff to clarify how sign districts and canopies relate to the question; DCP staff explained that signage allowances often depend on whether a structure such as a canopy exists and that a pathway already exists for canopy-style signs like those at gas stations.
The committee adopted language that: 1) instructs DCP, LADBS and City Attorney to prepare an ordinance to define EV charging as a primary use (light, medium and heavy duty, including private fleet charging) and include ministerial and discretionary approval standards; 2) directs DCP and LADWP to include equitable expansion priorities for renter and disadvantaged communities; and 3) instructs the City Administrative Officer to report on funding up to $150,000 for the CEQA analysis required by the ordinance. The committee also added a requirement that charging stations be properly maintained and that any revenue-generating signage be limited or disabled when an EV charger is inoperable.
The committee vote was recorded as 5-0 in favor.
Looking ahead, staff will return with draft ordinance language and an itemization of the CEQA resources needed to complete the environmental review.
