Commerce City, CO Parking Rules: Loading Zones (2026)
Key Facts
- Trigger size
- Buildings of 10,000 sq ft or more
- Manufacturing/warehouse
- 1 space per 10,000-30,000 sq ft, +1 per 20,000 sq ft
- Office
- 1 space up to 70,000 sq ft, +1 per 35,000 sq ft
- Commercial
- 1 space up to 70,000 sq ft, +1 per 30,000 sq ft
- Multi-family
- 1 loading space per building over 20,001 sq ft
Summary
Any Commerce City building of 10,000 square feet or more used for manufacturing, warehousing, retail, wholesale, a hotel, hospital, mortuary or similar goods-handling use must provide off-street loading spaces on the same lot, with the number required climbing as the building's floor area grows, under LDC Sec. 21-7235.
Sec. 21-7235. - Loading Requirements. In all zone districts, every building that has a gross floor area of 10,000 square feet that is erected or structurally altered and is or will be occupied by manufacturing, storage, warehouse, goods display, retail store, wholesale store, market, hotel, hospital, mortuary, laundry, dry cleaning, or other uses similarly requiring the receipt or distribution by vehicles of material or merchandise, shall provide and maintain on the same lot with such building off-street loading spaces in accordance with the following: ... Type of Land Use Total Gross Floor Area Loading Spaces Required Manufacturing, Warehousing, Research and Development, Institutional, and Service Uses 10,000 to 30,000 sq. ft. One 30,001+ sq. ft. One for each additional 20,000 sq. ft., plus additional as required by director ... Commercial and Other Allowed Uses 10,000 to 70,000 sq. ft. One 70,001+ sq. ft. One for each additional 30,000 sq. ft., plus additional as required by director
Full Breakdown
Sec. 21-7235 of the Land Development Code applies to every zone district: once a building reaches 10,000 square feet of gross floor area and is built, or structurally altered, for manufacturing, storage, warehousing, goods display, retail, wholesale, a market, hotel, hospital, mortuary, laundry or dry cleaning use, or any similar use that receives or ships merchandise by vehicle, the owner has to provide and maintain off-street loading spaces on that same lot. Table VII-5 sets the count by use type and size. Manufacturing, warehousing, research-and-development, institutional and service buildings need one loading space between 10,000 and 30,000 square feet, then one more for every additional 20,000 square feet, plus whatever more the director requires.
Office buildings get a wider band, one space up to 70,000 square feet and then one per additional 35,000 square feet. Commercial and other allowed uses need one space up to 70,000 square feet, then one per additional 30,000 square feet, again with the director able to require extra spaces. Multi-family developments of 20,001 square feet or more need one loading space per building. These loading requirements sit alongside the separate stacking-space rules in Sec. 21-7236 for drive-through uses and the parking-computation rules in Sec.
21-7237, and the director can apply the requirement for the closest listed use, or order a parking study, when a proposed use is not named in the table.
Violations & Fines
Occupying or altering a covered building without providing the loading spaces Table VII-5 requires is a Land Development Code violation Commerce City Community Development enforces through code enforcement and can hold up a certificate of occupancy until the required spaces are striped and available on site.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does my retail store need a loading dock?
Can the city require more loading spaces than the table shows?
Do apartment buildings need loading spaces too?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Commerce City
Compare Commerce City to another location·View the Colorado parking rules overview
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Loading Zones in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Adams County handle loading zones.