Electric Vehicle Legislation Sparks Tension At City Council
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Electric car owners squared off against their neighbors in Philadelphia city council, today, over a bill that would end electric-car-only parking spaces in the city.
There are 68 spaces in the entire city reserved for electric vehicles but to hear Deen Cogan tell it, they cause a lot of contention in neighborhoods where parking is scarce.
"Public land has been given to private owners. It's not fair," said Cogan.
Cogan spoke to council in support of Councilman David Oh's bill, which would put a moratorium on new EV-only spaces and open up existing ones to anyone during the day. But EV owners with reserved spots, such as Mary Pisculli, pleaded to be grandfathered in.
"Any change to the ordinance after we have adopted it is wholely unfair and will penalize EV owners who adopted the city's green initiative at considerable expense," said Pisculli.
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Oh was unmoved. He thinks the city should find a new way to encourage EVs.
"The city needs to put in a publicly-accessible electric-vehicle-charging infrastructure," said Oh.
City council is expected to vote on the bill next week.