There is a growing trend of new legislation that encourages the use of environmentally friendly energy sources.
In light of this trend as well as the increase of electric vehicles on the roads, the New York State legislature recently passed a new provision to the New York Condominium Act, (Real Property Law §339-ll) that restricts condominium Boards from prohibiting or unreasonably restricting unit owners’ installation or use of an electric vehicle charging station (“EVCS”) within the community.
The highlights of the new law are as follows:
- Any governing documents of the condominium, that either prohibit or unreasonably restrict the installation or use of an EVCS within an owner’s unit or in a designated parking space, shall be void and unenforceable.
- Reasonable restrictions must be permitted.
- If Board approval is required for the installation/use of an EVCS, a written decision must be issued within 60 days. An ignored request is deemed approved.
- For EVCS’s to be installed on common elements, the owner must obtain Board approval and approval must be granted as long as the owner agrees in writing to comply with the Condominium’s architectural standards, engage a licensed contractor for the installation of the EVCS, provide a certificate of insurance that names the Condominium as an additional insured, and pay for both the costs of installation and the electricity usage associated with the EVCS.
- The owner and successive owners of the EVCS are responsible for: costs for damage to the EVCS and surrounding areas, maintenance, repair, removal, or replacement of the EVCS, and the cost of electricity.
- A Board must allow an owner to install an EVCS in a non-irrevocably restricted common area if the installation in the owner’s designated parking space is impossible or unreasonably expensive. In such cases, the Board shall enter into a license agreement with the owner for the use of the space in a common area.
- The Condominium or owners may install an EVCS in the common elements for everyone’s use, and the Condominium shall develop terms of use.
- A Condominium may create a new parking space where one did not previously exist for the installation of an EVCS (although this may require town or village approval).
- A Condominium that willfully violates the law will be liable for damages and shall pay a civil penalty up to $1,000.00.
- In any action by a unit owner requesting to have an EVCS installed and seeking to enforce compliance with the law, the unit owner shall be awarded reasonable attorney’s fees if he or she prevails.
In light of the new law, Boards should develop written policies and procedures detailing how they will handle owners’ requests to install stations that incorporate provisions of the new law.
A significant issue that Boards will have to tackle is deciding where stations can be installed and in what manner they can be used (who can access the station and when, keeping track of usage, billing, etc). The way Boards handle these issues will largely depend on the community association’s configuration. If an owner has a driveway or assigned parking spot in front of his unit, addressing the request may be less complicated than if parking is only available in a common area lot, especially if parking spaces are limited.
Instead of allowing homeowners to install EVCS’s on common property, the Board may decide to install an EVCS (or more than one) as an amenity for the community. The Board should perform an evaluation to determine the best location for the stations (where it may be both convenient for owners but also near an energy source). If the Board chooses to do this, it should set access control policies and may want to consider creating a schedule for designated users to access the system.
There are companies that specialize in the installation of charging stations that can work with community associations and owners to install appropriate stations based on the communities’ configuration and needs. These companies are able to work with Boards to determine the best location for the installation of systems based on electrical supply and whether community parking is shared or assigned, and can work with communities on billing specific owners for their usage.
Due to the penalties that can be imposed on Condominium Boards that do not follow the law, it is important that Boards take an owner’s request for the installation of an EVCS seriously, that Boards have a comprehensive written policy in place governing these requests, and that they work with owners to find the most efficient, fair and effective method to provide electronic vehicle charging stations.
While this law currently applies only to condominiums and not to other types of community associations, homeowners associations and co-ops may want to start considering how they will handle owners’ requests to install these stations as they are inevitable.
