Officials at the Maple Avenue and Sherman Plaza parking garages have received several complaints about electric vehicles occupying charging stations for hours on end, leading some Evanston City Council members and officials to discuss imposing hourly charging rates or issuing citations to electric vehicle owners.
Images obtained by the Evanston RoundTable show many vehicles remaining in place at charging stations for anywhere between four and nine hours at a time, treating charging stations as parking spots.
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On Feb. 1, a charging station for a car at Sherman Plaza garage shows a parking stay of more than eight hours. Credit: Aleca Sullivan -
A station at the Maple Avenue garage on Feb. 14 shows a stay of more than four hours. Credit: Aleca Sullivan -
A charging station at the Sherman Plaza Garage on Feb. 1 shows a stay of more than seven hours. Credit: Aleca Sullivan -
Charging station at the Sherman Plaza garage on Feb. 1 shows a stay of more than eight hours. Credit: Aleca Sullivan
Grievances surrounding charging station misuse have been most widely made about the Sherman Plaza and Maple Avenue parking garages.
Several Evanstonians have raised the issue with 4th Ward Council Member Jonathan Nieuwsma since it was raised in the Administration and Public Works Committee agenda in February 2023, Nieuwsma said.
Nieuwsma said the City Council acknowledges the problem and is committed to solving it.
Ticketing could be an option
“There are a couple of ways we can address this,” Nieuwsma said. “We can charge electric vehicles for the privilege of parking in those spots. We can also issue citations after a certain period of time. This is something our sustainability department has been involved in as well.”
While there is currently a three-hour charging limit at each station, the city has no existing regulations preventing individuals from either remaining in a spot after charging has turned off or unplugging the charger and plugging it back in, starting a new three-hour charge. Regular garage fees, if any, would be in effect.
Nieuwsma added that council members are deliberating whether to start imposing a $1 per hour fee on electric vehicle owners via the Park Evanston app.
“It is on the city to enforce. Part of the problem is that we are giving away that energy for free.” Nieuswma said. “We don’t want to give away parking for free in the garages and, more importantly, we don’t want to give away the energy for free.”
Despite City Council’s awareness of the issue and hope to address it, Nieuswma said resolving charging station overstays “honestly has not been one of the main priorities of the environment board or our sustainability team.”
Charge for the charge?
Luke Tatara, Evanston’s interim parking division manager, called on City Council to pass an ordinance allowing garages to charge electric vehicle owners for energy usage and spot occupancy.
Tatara said he would also like to see the city add more public charging stations to garages to prevent waitlists from growing too long.
“We should be able to charge for the parking spot and the usage of the power,” Tatara said. “You choose not to buy a charger. You choose to use our charger, which we have to pay for the maintenance.”
Tatara said electric charging stations in garages should be treated like privately owned gas stations, as reasonable price markups or costs would help the city pay for inspections, maintenance and renovations.
Some electric vehicle owners are using the spaces as parking spots long after they have finished charging, however, meaning an hourly rate on charging would not incentivize them to move.
Both Nieuwsma and Ryan Hall, the administrative lead with Evanston’s fleet and facilities division, floated the idea that parking enforcement forces could begin ticketing vehicles that overstay occupancy in charging stations when charging is not actively underway.
Potential for enforcement through 311 calls
“It sounds like a real problem,” Hall said. “It sounds like if that is becoming an issue, they should be able to reach out to the city’s 311 phone number and report that, so then we could send a [parking enforcement officer] out there to ticket those cars.”
Tatara clarified, however, that the city cannot, in fact, ticket electric vehicle owners occupying charging stations for extended periods of time because the city has not acted to make it illegal. He called on City Council to make these drivers pay for their spots and energy so that tickets could be issued as enforcement, as is done with parking meters.
Electric vehicle owner Ben Fogel, 38, said he enjoys the leisure of refueling his minivan for free but supports the city’s attempts for reform.
“I know some people leave their cars here all day long after they’re done charging, and it would incentivize people to leave spots eventually,” Fogel said.
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