Hendersonville, TN Parking Rules: Loading Zones (2026)

Hendersonville addresses loading and unloading in three places. First, the Hendersonville Municipal Code Title 15 (Motor Vehicles, Traffic and Parking) authorizes the city to install signed loading-zone restrictions where business density or street geometry requires reserved curb space. Signage and pavement markings follow Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) standards. The Public Safety Committee regularly takes up additional Title 15 amendments; Section 15-301 (Speed Limits) was most recently amended by Ordinance 2024-12. Second, on the development side, the City of Hendersonville Zoning Ordinance requires off-street loading. Section 11.2.11 (Required Off-Street Loading Spaces) and Section 11.2.12 (Design of Off-Street Loading Spaces) set the minimum number of loading spaces required by use type and the design standards (dimensions, surfacing, access, and screening). Section 11.2.10 (Required Off-Street Parking Spaces) provides the underlying parking-space ratios by land use that interact with loading-space requirements. Third, Tennessee state law treats active loading and unloading differently from parking: Tennessee Code Annotated 55-8-160 enumerates stopping, standing, and parking prohibitions on the public way (within 7.5 to 15 feet of a fire hydrant, within an intersection, on a crosswalk, on a sidewalk, in front of a driveway, within 20 feet of a crosswalk at an intersection, within 30 feet of a flashing signal or stop sign, alongside another vehicle, on bridges or in tunnels, etc.), but a vehicle actively engaged in receiving or discharging passengers or goods is generally treated differently from a 'parked' vehicle during the active loading window. In city parks, Section 20-503(25) of Title 20 (Park and Recreation Regulations) provides: 'Vehicles including trailers, carrying merchandise, or samples of merchandise, or other commercial vehicles are prohibited from entering any park except to make deliveries to the park.' This authorizes deliveries to park concessions and facilities but bars commercial vehicles from parking at park lots. The Hendersonville Police Department handles loading-zone enforcement.