HADLEY — A proposal to bring an electric vehicle charging station to the municipal parking lot between the Hadley Public Library and Hadley Senior Center is being put off by the Select Board until a determination is made on whether reserving spaces for those vehicles won’t violate town zoning.

With concerns that setting aside two or more spots for electric vehicles may cause the parking area to fall out of compliance with the zoning requirement of having two square feet of parking for each square foot of building, the Select Board last week took no action on a request from Real Term Energy of Annapolis, Md., to install the dual-plug, level II electric vehicle charging station.

Paul Vesel, a representative from Real Term Energy, explained that such chargers are part of being environmentally responsible and taking carbon out of the atmosphere.

Vesel said his company will do the project from beginning to end, ensuring there is sufficient capacity and an interconnection with Eversource, and will also select the most effective hardware and software and manage its installation, operation and maintenance.

The $35,671 cost would be almost entirely offset by the state’s Electric Vehicle Incentive program. The only cost that wouldn’t be covered is a $500 software fee, Vesel said. It would also be up to town officials to decide whether to charge people for the use of the electricity, or to give it away for free, he said.

But since the spots have to be 100% dedicated to electric vehicles, officials need to make sure the project doesn’t run afoul of town zoning. Town Administrator Carolyn Brennan said it’s possible that the spaces for charging could be set aside for any vehicle during special events.

Planning Board Clerk William Dwyer said the town buildings have maxed out the parking for the site and from a zoning perspective, with no extra parking available, an installation that causes some spots to not be available for every vehicle would mean those are no longer considered parking spaces.

“If they are going to be restricted to only battery-powered vehicles, you are reducing your parking below the minimums,” Dwyer said.

Vesel said he would look to see if there is an exception that can be allowed by the state, if such spots are analogous to handicapped spaces, or if town zoning might be flexible to determine how many electric vehicles are in the lot at a given time.

Select Board member Joyce Chunglo asked why town-owned parking is being considered.

“Why would you want to put it on town property and not other places,” Chunglo said, pointing to commercial locations along Route 9, including gas stations and grocery stores, where chargers exist.

Vesel said proliferation of electric vehicles is prompting the state to look for more sites. “The public sector also has a role that will be complementary,” Vesel said.

“It’s really just for convenience,” Vesel added. “Your constituents and visitors, they know they have certain places where they can charge.”

Select Board member Jane Nevinsmith explained that the initiative also ensures that there would be charging stations available for library patrons.

Select Board Chairwoman Amy Parsons said she would be concerned about opening up the charging station to non-residents to take up spots. But Nevinsmith said she doesn’t expect anyone to abuse the use of the chargers.

Susan Glowatsky of Middle Street said there are banks of charging stations elsewhere in Hadley. “I’m not certain it needs to be on town property,” Glowatsky said.

Jack Czajkowski, a member of the trustees for the library and the town’s climate panel, said his understanding is that a charging station was always in the plans when the building was constructed and opened in 2020.

Select Board member Molly Keegan said she hopes there is a way around the zoning rules, especially since many parking spaces in the lot go unused during the day and could be there instead for electric vehicles.

“The vast majority of the time the lot is not chock full,” Keegan said.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.