‘It’s a bit ridiculous’: Toronto man frustrated after EV charging plans shut down

Mark Bishop spent a year and half working with the city to get permission to build a parking pad on his property to accommodate an EV charger. The city ultimately said no.

A Toronto man hoping to make the switch to an electric vehicle was left frustrated after consulting and working with the city for more than a year and a half, only to have his request to build a parking pad to support a charging station denied.

Mark Bishop said he’s been wanting to do his part to be more climate-friendly and is actively shopping to trade in his gas guzzler for an electric vehicle.

But Bishop wanted the stability of having a place to charge it first. His shared driveway carried no guarantee of that if his neighbour moved, but several people on his street already had parking pads, prompting Bishop to explore building one of his own.

“We are trying to look forward and take responsibility for our actions, of investing in an electric vehicle, investing in charging, of still protecting the environment, of investing in trees, and all of these things,” he said.

Bishop enlisted consultants to design a pad that factored in the need to allow water absorption to mitigate flooding and to figure out how to move a small city tree about a metre. That seven-centimetre diameter tree, one Bishop requested the city plant years ago, ultimately led to his request being denied following a vote by Toronto and East York community council earlier this week.

“It was really frustrating that the discussion went in a completely different turn, to actually be having conversations about whether or not homeowners should even be investing in EV charging stations in their home,” he said.

What made the issue more frustrating, he said, was the fact he had offered to pay for the cost of moving the tree and for five new trees for the city.

“We would love for the city to put a charging station in on every corner, if the city had unlimited resources,” Bishop said. “That would be a wonderful thing.”