Durham Council adopts ordinance to permit electric vehicle chargers across zoning districts

The Durham Town Council adopted Ordinance #2026-04 at its April 20 meeting to explicitly permit electric vehicle (EV) charging stations as an accessory use in all zoning districts and as a principal use in commercial districts.

The Council opened a public hearing on the ordinance. William Hall, a resident, argued the town should be cautious about regulating private charging and said that if a charger is installed correctly "the town has no control over it." Councilors clarified the ordinance’s scope during discussion: it is intended to make clear that commercial sites may include charging facilities and that private residential charging is already allowed under existing rights. "This was not intended to have any impact on private residential dwellings where charging is allowed by all rights already," Councilor Mike Lehrman said.

Chair Joe Friedman moved to adopt the ordinance; the motion was seconded by Councilor Darrell Ford and passed on a unanimous roll call vote of 8‑0. Councilors discussed that principal commercial charging uses would still be subject to zoning protections (special exceptions in residential zones) and that those protections run with the land rather than the applicant.

Ordinance #2026‑04 amends Chapter 175 "Zoning," clarifying EV charging as an allowed accessory use across zones and a permitted principal use in commercial zones. No amendments to the ordinance were adopted at the meeting, and the Council took no separate administrative direction beyond adoption.