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Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging
This graphic shows three levels of EV infrastructure. EV Capable means the ability to add charging is already in place. EV Ready contains wiring and an outlet, and EV Charger Installed includes the ability to charge at a faster rate.
EVs are a critical part of reducing Raleigh’s GHG emissions. More than 10,000 EVs are already rolling along Wake County and Raleigh streets, and the number is growing every year.
Over 90 percent of charging happens at home, so access to home charging is important to broaden access to the benefits of EVs. These include higher reliability, less maintenance, lower fuel costs, and participation in the transition to clean transportation.
However, most Raleigh residents do not have convenient access to EV charging. This creates barriers to purchasing an EV and limits the benefits to a smaller number of people, generally those who live in a single-family home.
That limitation particularly affects the more than 200,000 Raleigh residents who do not live in single-family homes. Apartment residents and renters generally do not have the ability to install their own chargers, and often do not have an option to charge at their workplace.
The ordinance would ensure that new apartment buildings could easily add EV charging in the future by ensuring that electrical capacity is in place. The term for this is called “EV Capable.” See the graphic above for more information. The ordinance is not requiring the installation of chargers, but that the capacity to easily install future chargers be included during construction. In the long term, this saves money for building owners because they can add chargers as the need grows without having to dig up parking lots and perform future costly electrical upgrades.
In addition to apartments, the ordinance would also apply to new hotels, gas stations, and standalone parking lots to further support EV charging options. This ordinance does not apply to existing locations, only new developments.
Drive-thrus
These images show two different forms of a typical coffee shop or restaurant. The image on the left shows a typical drive-thru line, which occupies much of the area around the building and sometimes can back up onto nearby streets. This causes accessibility and safety issues for anyone trying to walk, bike or get through this area. It also occupies a lot of land. The image on the right shows a pedestrian-friendly place that does not require a car.
While drive-thrus are a convenient way to get food or make other purchases, they have drawbacks, especially in places where people could otherwise walk, use a wheelchair, stroller, scooter or bike more safely and comfortably. If you think about places you’ve been that were pleasant to walk in, they probably had few, if any, drive-thrus.
Idling in drive-thrus also contributes to health and financial costs. Not only does idling create air pollution and increase GHG emissions, it costs money. An idling truck or SUV can use a half gallon of gas or more per hour. Depending on how often we go to a drive-thru, going inside instead of sitting in a line might pay for a cup of coffee each week. Lastly, drive-thrus also occupy significant amounts of land (see image below) that could be used for additional housing and employment opportunities.
The ordinance addresses these issues by limiting new drive-thru construction in the most accessible and walkable parts of the city. These include downtown and other areas where we are trying to increase mobility options for people such as Hillsborough Street, the Village District, North Hills and other parts of Raleigh both inside and outside the Beltline. The goal is getting you to enjoy everything Raleigh has to offer outside of the car!
Existing drive-thrus would not be affected by this ordinance. New pharmacy drive-thrus also would still be allowed.
Pedestrian Connections
This image shows a neighborhood that is very near a shopping center. However, due to a lack of a pedestrian access point, a resident would need to travel more than half of a mile to get to a grocery store, meaning it’s likely to be a driving trip. If a pedestrian connection was added, residents would only have to travel 700 feet. While that might not work for every grocery trip, many trips involve picking up a few items – or just a walk to a nearby restaurant or park!
Making it easy to walk to nearby destinations improves community health, increases pedestrian safety, and reduces GHG emissions and other air pollutants. However, often there is no direct sidewalk connection between more residential neighborhoods and destinations such as grocery stores, greenways, parks, offices, or schools.
A typical example of this and how a lack of pedestrian connections reduces walkability and increases driving is shown in the image above.
Raleigh does ensure that sidewalks are built along public streets when new development takes place. However, this doesn't address what happens when, for example, an apartment and a shopping center are "back to back," rather than next to each other. The ordinance would address this issue by ensuring that connecting sidewalks are built when new development takes place. It will also ensure that new apartments or subdivisions have access to nearby greenways and to other destinations.
Existing developments would not have to add new sidewalks. However, as shopping centers and other areas are redeveloped, the ordinance would apply.