Park a Gas Guzzler in an Electric Car Spot, Get a $100 Ticket

You’re late for a big meeting at the Marin Civic Center and the only parking spot you can find is designated as an electric car-charging station. No one will notice, right?

You'd better hope not.

The Marin County Board of Supervisors this week established fines for illegal parking in the county’s three electric car-charging stations: one apiece at the Civic Center, the Marin Health and Wellness Center and the Marin Center Exhibit Hall.

The supervisors approved a $100 fine for non-electric cars that park in one of the electric car-charging stations, as well as a $27 fine for any car parking in one of the stations for more than the four-hour limit.

The county set the fines based on those of the city of San Rafael for the same violations, treating the non-electric parking in a station as the same as a non-handicapped vehicle parked in a space reserved for handicapped parking, according to senior civil engineer Bob Goralka.

The electric car-charging stations were installed in November 2011.