Friday, November 24, 2017

A Clash of Centuries

Once upon a time, before the advent of the automobile, the streets of Hudson were probably lined with hitching posts and mounting blocks. Be that as it may, it is not at all clear that we are ready to embrace what may be the next wave of curbside enhancement to our predominantly 19th-century streets: the electric car charger.

  
Electric cars are more and more becoming a fact of life. Public chargers are few and far between. The plan to install an electric vehicle charging station in the parking lot behind City Hall seems not to be going anywhere. Garages are something of a rarity in Hudson. For all these reasons, we can probably expect to see more of these chargers making an appearance along our streets, particularly in historic districts. One may well ask what kind of permitting is or should be required for their installation. Although it remains a little known and frequently ignored fact, a certificate of appropriateness from the Historic Preservation Commission is required for the installation of satellite dishes in historic districts. Should chargers be subject to the same requirement?
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3 comments:

  1. Yes, they should be. In the same way that the Citibike stations interfere with the historic buildings around Manhattan, electric charging stations would be dissonant with the 19th century streetscapes of Hudson. They belong in gas stations or parking lots.

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  2. Technology is already providing wireless charging (https://www.pluglesspower.com/). So eventually there will be parking spaces with this technology placed into the pavement

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  3. at the very least they should be required to have some sort of cover that makes them less conspicuous

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