Atlanta is streamlining its tough permitting procedures to encourage apartment owners, families and businesses to install charging stations for electric cars.
Mayor Kasim Reed, auto dealers and owners of electric cars were on hand Wednesday morning for the opening of the city's first public solar-powered charging station for electric vehicles at Atlantic Station. Wheego, Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf models competed for space in a grassy parking area as onlookers gawked at low-slung Tesla electric sports cars. Reed pulled up at 10 a.m. in a cream-colored Volt and made his way to the microphones set up for a news conference.
"We just have to find a way to do more," he said. "We should be leading. We have to get more stations like this open."
City officials said two parking management companies are in the process of selecting sites for charging stations in Atlanta.
The city's Bureau of Buildings is tooling with its processes to ease the installation of charging stations. The bureau, which enforces Atlanta's construction and demolition codes, now aims to get charging stations approved as soon as the same day if all necessary documents are presented, said Aaron Bastian of the city's Division of Sustainability. Atlanta is not giving grants or other financial incentives beyond the permitting changes.
The Atlantic Station charging station is located across 17th Street from the Millennium Gate. It is partially powered by overhead solar panels and will be available to motorists with electric-powered, zero-emissions vehicles 24 hours a day beginning Thursday. The three parking spots at the charging stations will be free to use until January and then will cost users $3 per hour. To charge a Volt or a Leaf, it will take three to seven hours.
Atlantic Station was built on the site of an abandoned steel mill and was one of the largest and most extensive brown-field reclamation projects in the U.S. when it opened in 2005.
Todd Frye, a Los Angeles-based principal at CB Richard Ellis Investors, said the real estate company is investing millions in an effort to freshen up Atlantic Station. CB Richard Ellis took over majority ownership earlier this year and is spending $2.5 million to paint and brighten the underground parking garage. Food trucks and weeknight movies have also appeared at Atlantic Station.
"You asked for some of these changes," Frye said at the news conference, "and we're giving them to you."
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