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Larkspur forum seeks partners, incentives and CIP funding to expand EV charging
Summary
Staff proposed targeting City Hall, downtown lots and private/multifamily properties for more EV chargers, asked council to consider CIP funding, and members urged proactive outreach and fee or permit incentives to encourage public access on privately owned sites.
City staff presented an EV charging expansion plan to the Climate Action Forum on May 18 that outlines public-site priorities, potential private partnerships and possible use of existing climate CIP funds to seed projects.
The assistant city manager said staff is researching options for public chargers at City Hall, the downtown municipal lot and library, and that the new Piper Park recreation building will include EV parking as part of its design. “We’re preliminarily looking at City Hall and downtown municipal lots because that’s two of our options… we’ll return to council and the community to talk about how folks are using the charging here,” the staff lead said, noting the city already set rate structures for existing chargers.
Members pressed staff to take a proactive approach to private property outreach, particularly for multifamily and commercial sites on corridors such as South Alicia where parking is underused overnight. Staff explained that California law has rules on tenant-requested charging that can affect commercial landlord-tenant installations and that conduit capacity and tenant interest must be verified on a case-by-case basis.
The forum discussed several incentives and staging strategies to reduce barriers: coordinate charger installation with repaving or solar work to avoid repeated construction, consider permit-fee reductions for owners that make chargers publicly available, and allocate CIP funds to partner with property owners. Staff said the city currently has climate-related CIP funds ($50,000 added in FY25–26 and another $50,000 proposed), and suggested those funds could seed pilot partnerships.
Why it matters: expanding accessible charging near multifamily housing is widely seen as essential to equitable EV adoption. Forum members argued that targeted city support and outreach could encourage private owners to host chargers that benefit renters and the broader public.
Next steps: staff will meet with the community development department and public works to assess conduit and cost requirements, pursue outreach to targeted property owners, and return with specific project proposals and a recommendation for council consideration.
