City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: May 26, 2026
Agenda Item: 12.A
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Jing Yeo, Director, Administration
Subject: Introduction and Adoption of Emergency Interim Zoning Ordinance Establishing Standards and Procedures for Light Fleet-Based Service with Electric Vehicle Charging
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding of no possibility of significant effect pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines; and
2. Introduce and Adopt an Emergency Interim Zoning Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Santa Monica to Establish Standards and Procedures of Approval for Light Fleet-Based Service With Electric Vehicle Charging, and Creation of a Use Classification for Light-Fleet Based Service With Electric Vehicle Charging.
Summary
Recent development proposals have introduced high-intensity fleet maintenance operations co-located with Electric Vehicle (EV) charging. While EV charging infrastructure is protected under State law (Government Code Section 65850.7), these hybrid uses introduce land use impacts not fully addressed by existing regulations.
The City’s regulatory approach must balance:
• State-mandated ministerial approval for EV charging
• Local authority to address land use impacts and public safety This report presents a regulatory framework to address the growing co-location of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure with light fleet-based services (e.g., delivery, ride-hailing, or autonomous fleets). While State law requires streamlined, ministerial 2 of 9
approval of EV charging facilities, emerging operational patterns—particularly fleet staging, maintenance, and dispatch—have raised concerns. Key concerns identified include:
• Queuing and staging in the public right-of-way
• Obstruction of emergency access routes
• Noise and lighting impacts on nearby residential areas • Lack of operational accountability for fleet dispatch systems The proposed framework maintains compliance with State mandates while introducing a new use classification for light fleet-based services that are associated with EV charging and objective operational standards to mitigate impacts from fleet operations. A limited discretionary review process is retained only for rare cases involving site specific, documented public health and safety impacts in accordance with State law. This framework reflects several policy priorities:
• Mobility Innovation: Balances support and consistency with State law for electric vehicle charging stations while establishing objective standards for fleet operations including maintenance
• Neighborhood Protection: Establishes enforceable safeguards for adjacent residential areas
• Legal Compliance: Aligns with State requirements for streamlined EV permitting • Operational Accountability: Places responsibility on operators to actively manage impacts
At least one application for a light fleet-based service with electrical charging located in close proximity to residential neighborhoods is pending. Staff has determined that without operating conditions this facility will result in specific, adverse impact upon the public health or safety. Staff made this determination based on documented operational patterns at comparable facilities that have demonstrated recurring traffic obstructions, queuing spillback into public rights-of-way, and emergency access blockages that the proposed facility . These impacts arise from concentrated arrival surges, limited driveway capacity, and how long autonomous vehicles spend time on a site that present foreseeable risks. Continuous 24-hour operations further exacerbate these risks by 3 of 9
introducing nighttime queuing, noise, and light intrusion during sensitive hours, as evidenced by over 140 complaints associated with similar facilities. Additional inquiries for similar facilities have been received.
Ministerial review, without specific operating conditions attached, does not provide sufficient authority to regulate fleet dispatch practices or impose enforceable operational controls necessary to prevent these impacts. As a result, there is an urgent need to establish objective operational standards through the proposed Emergency Interim Zoning Ordinance. The emergency interim ordinance would become effective immediately upon adoption and remain in effect for 60 days (July 25, 2026) unless extended pursuant to SMMC Section 9.46.090(C).
Background
In recent years, the State of California has enacted legislation intended to accelerate the deployment of electric vehicle (“EV”) charging infrastructure and reduce local barriers to electrification and emerging transportation technologies. Two significant measures affecting local land use and permitting authority are Assembly Bill 1236 and Assembly Bill 970.
Assembly Bill 1236 (AB1236) – Electric Vehicle Charging Station Streamlining AB1236 was enacted in 2015 and established a streamlined, expedited permitting process for EV charging stations. The legislation added Government Code Section 65850.7 and requires cities and counties to adopt an ordinance creating an administrative, nondiscretionary review process for eligible EV charging station installations.
AB1236 was intended to reduce permitting delays and support statewide greenhouse gas reduction goals by treating EV charging infrastructure similarly to other ministerial building permit activities. Under the law, local agencies must:
• Develop and publish a checklist for EV charging station permit applications • Approve qualifying applications through a ministerial process 4 of 9
• Conduct only limited review focused on health and safety impacts, and • Avoid unreasonable restrictions that increase the cost or complexity of EV charging stations.
Assembly Bill 970 – Permitting Timelines for EV Charging Stations AB970 was enacted in 2021 and expanded upon the State’s prior EV charging streamlining laws by specifying timelines for determining application completeness and permit approval based on the number of proposed EV charging stations.
While AB 1236 and AB970 streamline permitting for EV charging equipment itself, the law does not eliminate a city’s authority to regulate land uses and operational characteristics that are distinct from the charging equipment itself including vehicle storage, fleet operations, maintenance activities, circulation, noise, lighting, or other compatibility considerations. Local agencies may continue to address issues such as:
• Fleet vehicle staging and storage
• Vehicle maintenance and cleaning activities
• Traffic circulation and queuing
• Hours of operation
• Noise, lighting, and neighborhood compatibility, and
• Compliance with zoning, building, fire, and public safety standards not preempted by State law
Potential Impacts from Light Fleet-Based Vehicle Services Associated with EV Charging Light fleet-based vehicle service operations are a distinct land use separate from EV charging-only facilities due to their centralized dispatch characteristics. Fleet operations, involve higher traffic volumes due to coordinated vehicle returns, continuous nighttime activity, simultaneous charging demand, extended dwell times, and the requirement for on-site staff to maintain and monitor the vehicles, making the facility function more like an industrial worksite. These operational characteristics can create concentrated queuing conditions that exceed available on-site storage capacity and 5 of 9
affect adjacent public rights-of-way. The City’s experience with fleet operations indicate that operational impacts are associated with the fleet-based nature of the use itself.
Queuing and Right-of-Way Obstruction
Existing fleet charging facilities in the city have shown recurring vehicle queues extending into adjacent alleys and circulation areas. Observed conditions included:
• Queuing within alleys
• Vehicles pausing within travel lanes
• Reduced circulation capacity
• Manual intervention by on-site personnel, and
• Interference with access and circulation
Queue lengths at existing facilities have been observed to reach approximately 15 vehicles. Applying conservative vehicle storage assumptions, a queue of this size would occupy approximately 330 to 375 feet. If not managed appropriately, vehicle queuing could potentially obstruct the public right-of-way and depending on site specific conditions, could interfere with:
• Turning movements
• Sight distance
• Transit operations
• Access to adjacent driveways
• Curbside parking
• Traffic signal operations and
• Vehicle merging activity near intersections
This potential spillover into the public right-of-way could obstruct adjacent streets and alleys. In the case of autonomous vehicles, this may result in longer obstruction duration due to delays in manual intervention to reposition vehicles during congestion events. This extended obstruction could potentially interfere with:
• Emergency vehicle access
• Fire apparatus maneuverability
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• Refuse collection, and
• Service vehicle circulation
Noise & Light Impacts From Continuous 24-hour Operation Existing fleet operations facilities operate continuously on a 24-hour basis and have resulted in noise and light impacts, particularly during sensitive overnight periods adjacent to residentially-zoned properties.
Discussion
Based on the City’s observations of existing facilities, the potential impacts from light fleet-based vehicles services associated with EV charging stations include a potential public right-of-way obstruction due to a higher-volume traffic environment and light and noise impacts due to continuous operational intensity adjacent to residential neighborhoods particularly during overnight hours. These potential impacts warrant creating a framework to establish objective standards that would clarify locational restrictions for light fleet-based vehicle services associated with EV charging and create enforceable operational conditions to mitigate the potential impacts of future uses on adjacent residential neighborhoods.
1. New Use Classification
The proposed interim ordinance includes a new use classification called “Light FleetBased Service with Electric Vehicle Charging”. The classification applies to passenger transportation services, delivery services, medical transport services, autonomous vehicle fleets, and similar operations involving fleets of three or more vehicles under 10,000 pounds that utilize on-site EV charging infrastructure. The proposed use classification distinguishes fleet operations from traditional EV charging-only facilities.
The proposed interim ordinance establishes new objective operational standards for light fleet-based vehicle services associated with EV charging stations within the General Commercial (GC), Industrial Conservation (IC), and Transit Adjacent (TA) 7 of 9
zoning districts. For facilities within 100 feet of residentially-zoned property, the proposed interim ordinance establishes additional noise and light restrictions related to:
• Noise mitigation
• Overnight operational restrictions
• Sound walls; and
• Lighting orientation and shielding and
• Headlight and glare controls.
2. Permitting Framework
Qualifying projects would generally be processed ministerially through building permit review and compliance based on objective conditions. However, the ordinance retains a limited Minor Use Permit process if the Director determines, based on substantial evidence, that the project could result in a site specific adverse impact to public health or safety, as defined by Government Code Section 65850.7.
The purpose of the MUP is to hold a public hearing to gather information that would inform the development of site-specific operational conditions. The MUP cannot be denied.
This structure balances compliance with State law while preserving targeted oversight for situations where the potential for site-specific adverse health and safety impacts may occur.
3. Objective Operational Standards
The ordinance establishes objective operational standards designed to mitigate impacts associated with fleet charging operations, including:
A. Dispatch Coordination
• Required Parking and Loading Operations Plan
• Real-time management of vehicle arrivals and site capacity • Integration of dispatch systems with on-site conditions B. Prohibition on Off-Site Queuing
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• No staging or idling in public streets or alleys
• All queuing must occur on-site
• If vehicles are enroute to the site and they must delay or circulate, such circulation shall not occur within one-half mile of the site.
C. Limits on total vehicles based on on-site capacity
• The number vehicles on site cannot exceed the number of available parking spaces
D. Minimum Emergency Access Clearances
• Maintain a mandatory 11-foot emergency access on streets and alleys E. On-Site Staffing
• Minimum of two trained personnel at all times
• Active monitoring of site operations and surrounding right-of-way • Authority to regulate or suspend dispatch activity
F. Monitoring and Compliance
• Ongoing City oversight
• Mandatory coordination meetings and updated plans as needed • Required operational adjustments if impacts occur
G. Additional Requirements
• Site liaison contact with requirement that operator respond to complaints in a timely manner
• Targeted zoning exemptions recognizing the unique nature of light fleet-based vehicle service associated with EV charging
For sites within 100 feet of residentially-zoned property, the following additional noise and light restrictions would apply:
A. Noise Controls
• Compliance with City noise standards
• Restrictions on noise levels overnight operations (11 PM – 6 AM) • Sound wall and site design requirements where applicable B. Lighting Controls
• Shielded lighting to prevent glare
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• Illumination limited to minimum safety requirements
• Restrictions on overnight lighting levels (11pm – 6am) Environmental Review
The proposed EIZO would create new objective, operational standards for light-fleet based services with electric vehicle charging that are designed to reduce impacts of such facilities and, as such, is exempt from CEQA pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines which state that CEQA does not apply “where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment.”
Financial Impacts
There is no immediate financial impact or budget action necessary as a result of the recommended action. Staff will return to Council if specific budget actions are required in the future.
Prepared By: Jing Yeo, Director
Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. CDD-ORD-Emergency IZO re Light Fleet Services +EV Charging 05.22.2026 B. Written Comments