Decatur, GA Parking Rules: Loading Zones (2026)

4 of the Decatur UDO sets the baseline: where loading is required, one or more off-street loading berths or spaces must sit on the same or an adjoining lot as the use it serves, either inside or outside a building. A full loading berth must measure at least 12 feet by 35 feet with 14 feet of overhead clearance, though a lesser loading space is acceptable if the UDO Administrator finds it sufficient for the property's normal loading operations; in every case the space cannot block the free movement of vehicles or pedestrians on a street or sidewalk.

The section then sets use-specific ratios. Retail operations, including restaurant space inside hotels and office buildings, with 20,000 square feet or more devoted to those purposes need one loading space per 20,000 square feet of gross floor area (or fraction) and one full loading berth per 40,000 square feet. Smaller retail and first-floor nonresidential uses under 20,000 square feet, along with wholesale and light industrial uses under 10,000 square feet, need just one loading space. Office buildings and hotels need one berth per 100,000 square feet.

Industrial and wholesale operations of 10,000 square feet or more follow a tiered table: one space from 10,000 to 40,000 square feet, two spaces up to 100,000 square feet, three up to 160,000, four up to 240,000, five up to 320,000, six up to 400,000, and one additional space for every 100,000 square feet beyond that. H requires that loading dock entrances for nonresidential uses be screened so that loading docks and related activity are not visible from any public right-of-way, a design rule layered on top of the citywide space count.