Photo: Sarah Reingwirtz / Los Angeles Daily News
Tesla has been expanding its Supercharging network significantly in recent months, and in one of the company’s newest expansions, it’s almost done building new Superchargers in San Fernando, California.
According to Daily News, Tesla is installing 14 new Superchargers at 1011 Pico Street in San Fernando, California. The Superchargers take up about 17 spots total in the parking lot, including room for the electrical equipment.
San Fernando City Council recently approved the project and hopes the site will attract more tourism to the downtown area, it also was not without criticism.
Thanks @RentPacificRide for reminding me that the Superchargers app has photos. Just confirmed that San Fernando is well through the construction phase!!@BLKMDL3 @arctechinc @mymodl3 @TeslaClubLA pic.twitter.com/BdFzG1YMDO
— Supercharger King 👑 (@MarcoRPTesla) February 12, 2021
Severyn Aszkenazy, a San Fernando real estate developer and Valley Sun newspaper publisher, signed a petition of over 500 signatures, which was denied a restraining order against Tesla’s development of the parking lot. Aszkenazy claims the lot is “the most valuable of the city’s opportunity sites” for redevelopment.
Aszkenazy said, “Tying it up for 10 years with the charges is an obstacle to the revitalization.” He continued, his main concern being that the community “didn’t have an opportunity to truly weigh-in.”
In spite of this, San Fernando City Manager Nick Kimball says that city officials did meet with neighboring businesses which could potentially be impacted by the project. Additionally, Kimball reported that there were no proposals to develop the parking lot before Tesla came to town, so he doesn’t believe the site will get in the way of future redevelopment projects.
Regardless, the update is good news for Tesla owners in the San Fernando area, which falls between numerous prominent California routes, including the 5, 405, 118, and 210. Prior to the installation, the closest charging states were over 15 miles away in either Burbank or Granada Hills.
