Plug-In Sites

Allows Police to Enforce on Private Property
As of May 11, 2016, the Howard County, Maryland law that gives police the explicit authority to write tickets for ICEing on private property is in effect. The space at the charging station must be designated with a sign that conforms to applicable standards.

Howard County Council Bill CB7-2016
In March, the Howard County Council passed an amendment that added the following two sentences to the existing anti-ICEing law:
(1) THE POLICE DEPARTMENT MAY ENFORCE THIS SECTION ON PUBLIC PROPERTY OR PRIVATE PROPERTY.
(2) THE POLICE DEPARTMENT MAY IMPOUND A VEHICLE THAT IS PARKED IN VIOLATION OF THIS SECTION.

Regulatory Signage Needed in Order to be Enforceable
In order for the Howard County Police to enforce the law, the spot must have a sign that is at least 12 inches by 18 inches and meet applicable State or Federal standards for parking control signs, i.e. standards as defined in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD).

Very few charging stations in Howard County have these signs. The dark blue signs at Columbia Association parking lots have not conformed to the standards but they are working with Howard County on getting new signs that do. As of May 10, 2016, the new signs had not been installed but unofficial pavement markings at each of the charging spots have been applied and when combined with the official signs, is expected to help reduce the ICEing problem.

A Role for Local EV Organizations?
The next challenge is to convince private parking lot managers to post the regulatory signs that will allow the laws to be enforced. I’ve suggested that local non-profit EV organizations could use their status in the community and leverage their sizable memberships as well as their financial resources to educate property owners and supply signs that meet the standards required in Howard, Montgomery and Baltimore Counties. A coordinated effort to get official signs installed would be more productive than public “shaming” on social media and freelance spray painting like happened a few years ago. (see: Is Graffiti the Right Response to ICEing Problem?)

@Lanny

Violation Punishable by $75 Fine

Baltimore County Anti-ICEing Law Took Effect April 4, 2016

Baltimore County now joins Montgomery and Howard Counties in Maryland as having a law to prohibit non plug-in electric vehicles from blocking EV charging spaces. The bill was sponsored by Cathy Bevins and Tom Quirk and was passed unanimously by Baltimore County Council on March 21.

The law is enforceable on private property that is used by the public such as shopping centers. The law says that in order to be enforced, the charging space must be designated by a sign approved by the police. Presumably, this includes that the signs must conform in design, color, size, and placement to the standards established in the “Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways.”

A violation will be punishable by a fine of $75.00. There is no towing provision spelled out in the Baltimore County law.

The Baltimore County Police non-emergency number is 410-887-2222.

COUNTY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE COUNTY, MARYLAND
Legislative Session 2015, Legislative Day No. 4
Bill No. 9-16A PERSON MAY NOT PARK A VEHICLE THAT IS NOT A PLUG-IN VEHICLE IN A SPACE, INCLUDING A SPACE ON PRIVATE PROPERTY USED BY THE PUBLIC IN GENERAL, THAT

(1) IS DESIGNATED FOR THE USE OF PLUG-IN VEHICLES WITH A SIGN APPROVED BY THE POLICE DEPARTMENT STATING THE PROHIBITION OF THIS SECTION; AND

(2) PROVIDES ACCESS TO A PLUG-IN VEHICLE RECHARGING STATION.

(8) PARKING IN A SPACE DESIGNATED FOR PLUG-IN VEHICLES IN VIOLATION OF §18-2-212 IS A VIOLATION PUNISHABLE BY A FINE OF $75; AND

SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, that this Act, having been passed by the affirmative vote of five members of the County Council shall take effect on April 4, 2016.

Source PDF

Recently, the Columbia Association took down the “EV PARKING ONLY” signs at their five EV charging stations in Howard County, MD. [See: Signs Removed to Prevent Enforcement of Anti-ICEing Law] The staff said that they didn’t want people to get tickets after a law was passed to clarify enforcement at charging stations on private parking facilities in the county.

Taking down the signs was a surprise and contradicted the Columbia Association’s earlier position that the “EV PARKING ONLY” signs were posted only because Howard County had a law that the Council passed in July, 2014. [See: Anti-ICEing Bill Passed in Howard County]

I attended the March 24, 2016 Columbia Association Board Meeting and “resident speak out” session to bring the matter to the attention of the CA President/CEO Milton Matthews and Board Members to seek a resolution. Here is audio from that session:

Audio: @Lanny speaks to Columbia Association Board of Directors about EV Parking Signs.

At about the 3:50 mark, CA President Milton Matthews says the signs have been put back up, however they have reached out to the Howard County Police Department and told them that if a non-electric vehicle parks there, they (CA) does not want them ticketed or towed. This of course goes against the spirit of the anti-ICEing law that Columbia Association said they wanted and that the EV community and local lawmakers led by Jen Terrasa and Calvin Ball spent several years getting passed.

It doesn’t make sense to wait until there is an enforceable regulation to put up signs that reserve the spots for EVs and then to take the signs down or ask the police to not enforce the hard-won law.

The Columbia Association President told me to check back in about a month and he will tell me where they stand at that time.