Mount Prospect passes measure requiring electric vehicle chargers in new homes

Following the state's lead, Mount Prospect will require new single-family homes and homes undergoing significant renovations to be equipped with an electric vehicle charger.

Village board members voted Tuesday to update the town's building code with the requirement, which also will apply to new detached garages.

The measure means the new homes, or those with renovations covering more than 750 square feet, must include a dedicated circuit for a minimum of Level 2 vehicle charging, the most commonly used of the three charging levels. The circuit would be a equipped with at least a 40-amp receptacle or electric vehicle charging equipment.

Trustees decided against providing one-time breaks on permit fees of $500 for new and remodeled homes and $200 for detached garages.

"If state law is requiring this anyway, and it's not really a village mandate anymore, why have a discount at all?" Trustee John Matuszak said.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law this month legislation requiring electric vehicle charging stations in the garages of new and renovated homes, beginning next year.

Bill Schroeder, Mount Prospect's director of building and inspection services, said the village's ordinance is more detailed than the state measure.

"It's specific, where it encourages the remodels," he said. "When you look at ours, it really incentivizes reinvestment in some of the older housing."