Virginia: Home Charging without driveway/garage HOA challenges

[pitterchi]

55.1-1823.1. Electric vehicle charging stations permitted.

https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title55.1/chapter18/section55.1-1823.1/

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I read this as the HOA can't stop me from installing a plug on the exterior of the home on my lot. Agree or Disagree?

Has anyone had trouble getting approval from their HOA in Virginia?

 

[RTPEV]

I read this as the HOA can't stop me from installing a plug on the exterior of the home on my lot. Agree or Disagree?

Technically I disagree because section A does say that the declaration (effectively your CC&R's) may have language that specificially forbids it, and this would be an allowable restriction. Furthermore it states that the HOA may have limits on where you can install the charging station.

That said, it would seem improbable that an HOA would have restrictions that would specifically prohibit this, other than perhaps specific restrictions on electrical outlets on the front facing side of the house or something like that.

At the end of the day, however, it depends on YOUR specific HOA covenants anyway, so probably no one on this forum (other than your neighbors) is going to be able to give you an authoritative answer that applies to your situation.

Have you talked to your HOA and/or submitted an ARC modification request? That right there would answer your question, and if they do deny it, then I think we would need to see their reasons and the applicable sections of your declaration & design guidelines to be able to weigh in on the subject.

 

[brkaus]

I read it as a law lobbied/passed by HOA associations to give them support in restricting people.

 

[theflyer]

They cannot prohibit it, but it is their choice how hard/easy/costly to make it. As such, you ideally want them to be partners, not adversaries.

I am on a Virginia Condo Board and working to enable charging at our building. We are in the final innings, and I hope to have charging in place within a couple of months. It's been a long journey, even with my other Board members and staff being supportive of the goal. We've had to undertake engineering studies, find a charging provider we want to work with, develop a complex policy, and more.

It sounds like you might be in a slightly different type of HOA than me, but all HOA Board members have to balance many things, from insurance requirements to how much power is available and other tricky bits.

If you are not on the Board, the most important thing you can do is assess where the Board members stand philosophically on the issue. If they are disinclined to support the initiative, they will make your life miserable. If that is the case, you may need to run to be a Board member to work it out from within or try to get a committee started to develop a plan.

It is most likely that your Board lacks knowledge on the subject, does not know how to get started, is concerned about safety and equitability for all HOA members, and is scared of what it all means.

You have to answer for yourself whether you want to work with your HOA to solve this for yourself and pave the way for others to come or be a bull in a china shop that puts up barriers for future EV owners who want to do the same in your HOA.

I am in Alexandria. I'd be happy to meet with you to discuss this in more detail and strategize your particular situation. DM me if you are interested. I'd also be happy to talk with your Board about our condo's journey.

 

[zoomzoom89]

The current issue my HOA faces is that we don't have deeded parking spots and everything outside of the condo is common areas. So they're working on figuring what liabilities there are for installing chargers in the common area. If our parking spots were deeded it would be a lot simpler. Obviously I'm working on getting it approved and the HOA board seems ok, it's just working through the legal issues. There's one Tesla in our area, but the owner just leaves his charging cable out, so it's not put a favorable light on home charging. However, there are a few EV/PHEVs so it's certainly an issue they need to address.

 

[theflyer]

The current issue my HOA faces is that we don't have deeded parking spots and everything outside of the condo is common areas. So they're working on figuring what liabilities there are for installing chargers in the common area. If our parking spots were deeded it would be a lot simpler. Obviously I'm working on getting it approved and the HOA board seems ok, it's just working through the legal issues. There's one Tesla in our area, but the owner just leaves his charging cable out, so it's not put a favorable light on home charging. However, there are a few EV/PHEVs so it's certainly an issue they need to address.

We have that too. We are using a provision on our bylaws that allows for common elements to be reserved. We will allocate four spots ass reserved for first come, first served charging.

 

[treker]

Technically I disagree because section A does say that the declaration (effectively your CC&R's) may have language that specificially forbids it, and this would be an allowable restriction. Furthermore it states that the HOA may have limits on where you can install the charging station.

That said, it would seem improbable that an HOA would have restrictions that would specifically prohibit this, other than perhaps specific restrictions on electrical outlets on the front facing side of the house or something like that.

At the end of the day, however, it depends on YOUR specific HOA covenants anyway, so probably no one on this forum (other than your neighbors) is going to be able to give you an authoritative answer that applies to your situation.

Have you talked to your HOA and/or submitted an ARC modification request? That right there would answer your question, and if they do deny it, then I think we would need to see their reasons and the applicable sections of your declaration & design guidelines to be able to weigh in on the subject.

It isn’t just HOAs. I live in Norfolk and someone here has been threatened with fines because they put up their charger behind a fence in a cute little house on a post in a historical district! You can’t see it from the street. So be careful not only with HOAs, condo boards and historical areas.