Effingham County, GA Parking Rules: Loading Zones (2026)

Section 3.30.6 of the Zoning Ordinance sets the off-street loading standard for nonresidential development in unincorporated Effingham County. Under § 3.30.6.1, every hospital, institution, commercial, or industrial building, or similar use with 20,000 square feet or more of floor area that receives or distributes materials or merchandise by vehicle must provide at least one permanent off-street loading space for each 20,000 square feet of gross floor area or fraction thereof, located immediately adjacent to the principal building. Section 3.30.6.2 layers on a use-specific table: hospitals need one berth for the first 300,000 square feet and one more for each additional 300,000 or major fraction, schools need one berth at 15,000 square feet or more, funeral homes need one berth regardless of size, and commercial, wholesale, manufacturing, and storage buildings scale from one berth at 10,000 to 25,000 square feet up to four berths between 60,000 and 100,000 square feet.

Every loading and unloading space must meet the dimensional floor set in § 3.30.6.3: direct access to a public street or alley, a minimum length of 30 feet, a minimum width of 12 feet, and a minimum height clearance of 14 feet, sized for the delivery trucks the standard is meant to accommodate. Development Services reviews these loading calculations at the building permit stage for any qualifying commercial or industrial project in the unincorporated county.