Cottonwood Heights staff recommend incentive options — expedited permits and fee reductions — to encourage EV readiness and bike parking

City planning staff returned to council on Jan. 21 with options to encourage developers to include EV readiness and bicycle parking features in new construction. The presentation recalled council direction from 2023 and work with Utah Clean Energy and neighboring cities to evaluate incentive‑based approaches.

Ian Harris (planning staff) defined EV readiness as installing wiring and junctions for parking stalls during construction, which can substantially reduce later installation costs. "You can save about 5 times," staff said when comparing wiring during construction versus retrofitting after a parking lot is complete.

Staff outlined four incentive options: expedited permit processing, parking‑requirement reductions, permit‑fee waivers or refunds, and a code‑embedded 'sustainability menu' allowing applicants to select sustainable elements (EV readiness could be one item). Staff recommended expedited review and targeted permit‑fee reductions as the most feasible near‑term measures and offered to run a fiscal impact analysis before drafting specific code changes.

Council members raised concerns about optics and applicability to city projects, how the program compares to nearby cities and whether density/height bonuses would be appropriate. Several council members favored incentives over mandates at this stage, while one council member said they preferred requirements instead of incentives. Staff will prepare more detail for a later ordinance drafting step if council directs.