As of June 23, Brookfield’s zoning code has been updated to allow electric vehicle chargers across town.
With the village board’s approval, Level 1 and Level 2 electric vehicle chargers are allowed in all zoning districts, including residential. Level 1 chargers provide three to six miles of travel per hour of charging while Level 2 chargers provide 16-80 miles per hour, according to Brookfield’s own definitions.
Level 3 chargers, also called direct current fast chargers (DCFC), can provide up to 800 miles per hour connected, but they’re restricted to commercial, manufacturing and multifamily zoning districts, meaning you can’t install one at home.
Libby Popovic, Brookfield’s director of community development, said the update — which added a litany of EV-related definitions to the village’s municipal code — aligns the village’s development goals with its sustainability plan.
“That does incorporate elements of making everything more electric-ready, at a minimum. When we were drafting the RFP, the request for proposals, for the downtown project, we did take that into consideration,” she said, in reference to the redevelopment of the Theater Building and an adjacent parcel on Grand Boulevard. “There’s a whole section in the RFP that speaks to developments that, ideally, would have everything electric-ready. It doesn’t have to all be in there, but as long as it’s ready for future [electric] hook-ups and for future developments.”
She emphasized that this section of the code could change again in the future when Brookfield completes its zoning code update.
Trustees’ passage of the code update last week was the final of 16 items on a checklist proving Brookfield’s commitment to electric vehicle readiness through the EV Readiness Program run by ComEd and the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus. With the checklist complete, the village is set to earn bronze status from the program, the first of three milestones that also include silver and gold.
“It makes us ready for the next step because Brookfield has several developments that are in the works right now. We’re trying to be very proactive with all of our policies: our sustainability policy, our comprehensive plan that’s in place, our soon-to-be economic incentive policy,” Popovic said.
According to the Illinois Secretary of State’s vehicle services department, there were 188 electric vehicles registered in Brookfield as of June 15.
The ordinance that trustees approved June 23 was largely the same as the one they discussed at their June 9 committee of the whole meeting, with one addition: Developers whose installments would require more than 25 parking spaces can request a reduction in that number by up to 10% if the reduction leads to the installation of the corresponding number of Level 2 or 3 chargers. For example, a development that requires 30 parking spots under Brookfield’s code could install three chargers and only need 27 parking spots.
“We want to incentivize development here in Brookfield. We also understand that parking is limited, as it’s limited in many other places, so this was a reasonable trade-off tool to give some type of parking credit for making everything energy-efficient,” Popovic said.
The mixed-use apartment development coming to the triangle property between Fairview and Brookfield avenues seems like a great fit for the reduction — with 37 spots required and only 17 accounted for — but Popovic said it wasn’t in mind when staff added the parking incentive.
“They actually just missed each other,” she said. “That project was already underway, so that was in front of the [planning and zoning commission] and the board in April before we could get everything ready for this proposed ordinance. It was just more of a timing issue.”
