Council committee reviews local EV-charging rules after state removes sections from proposed fire code

Shay Gord, the Sylvania-area fire marshal, told the Annexation and Zoning Committee that sections of electrical-vehicle charging language originally proposed for the 2025 state fire code were removed after public comment and industry pushback. Gord said the draft before the committee mirrors the sections that were dropped and applies to commercial installations — "something that you would see outside here at a gas station" — not single-family homes.

Gord said the state proposal included three sections of code language that did not survive the state comment process and that the township adopted additional provisions covering applicability, signage, separation distances and a manual disconnect. "Some of these can be powered and have some upwards of 800 volts to them," Gord said, urging caution around remote resetting and emphasizing that a qualified electrician, not a remote command, should restore power to disabled chargers.

Council members asked staff to obtain the public-comment record that led to the state removal and to evaluate whether two local charging stations — the Meyer site and the city parking-lot charger — comply with the draft language. "I'd like to know whether the Meyer charging station and this one comply with these rules," one councilmember said. Committee members also discussed grandfathering existing installations and whether signage and separation distances in the proposed text were appropriate.

The committee did not vote on an ordinance; members agreed to circulate the state comments and to schedule a follow-up zoning meeting after staff collects compliance checks and the public-comment materials.