Plans for Belmont EV charging stations keep moving forward

Mayor Davina Hurt described Belmont as a “desert” for electric vehicle chargers.

“When you look at the map there’s a huge gap in Belmont,” she said. “That’s not to say there aren’t a lot of people at home who are using chargers for electric vehicles, but there aren’t a lot of publicly accessible ones.” 

Shearer said staff refined designs for two level 2 chargers to be installed at the City Hall parking lot next to Twin Pines Manor where there’s angled parking. 

“It’s an optimal location that could benefit not just city employees, but anyone who visits the senior and community center and then weekend visitors to our downtown area,” Shearer said, adding that five existing spaces can be renovated into four EV charging spaces, one of which would be an ADA-accessible charging space. 

Shearer said the city received a quote for $100,000 to do that work plus sidewalk realignment to accommodate future EV chargers. She added that some of that cost may be covered by a Peninsula Clean Energy grant that may come through later this year.

“They’re aware of our interest and we’re definitely on the roster to talk to them about some grant monies,” she said.

As for the Sports Complex location, the city received a proposal from a company that would own and manage the charging infrastructure on city-owned property for at least 10 years. 

“Before the city would commit to anything like that I think there are some more opportunities that we should explore before we do that,” she said. 

One of those things she recommended exploring is a partnership with Volkswagen, which owns a research lab in Belmont on the east side of Highway 101. There have been conversations in the past with the company about installing a charge park on its property that could be accessible to the public.

But that’s not something residents should expect anytime soon, said Hurt, though she noted the company has been open to a partnership. She added that part of the appeal of that location is that motorists lined up to use the charging stations wouldn’t add to traffic congestion in the city. 

While those conversations continue, new development projects in the city continue to bring publicly accessible EV chargers. 

Shearer said commercial real estate projects at nine locations have installed, or are in the process of installing, a total of about 50 charging ports in the city. Three fast chargers are also being installed at Safeway on El Camino Real.

During the meeting, Shearer also noted the city in 2017 established building and electrical permit protocols to expedite the installation of residential EV charring infrastructure. Those permits can be filed online and are also issued over the counter, she added. 

“These are all steps in the right direction,” she said.

zachary@smdailyjournal.com

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