Kill Devil Hills, NC Parking Rules: Loading Zones (2026)

076(E). Every building that generates loading and unloading activity has to provide one or more loading berths or comparable spaces, sized at a minimum of 12 feet by 60 feet with 14 feet of overhead clearance, sited either inside or outside the structure. A loading space does not have to be a full berth if it is sufficient for the normal loading and unloading operations appropriate to the property it serves, but the Board of Commissioners is the body that decides whether a given space meets that bar, and in every case the space cannot hinder the free movement of vehicles and pedestrians over a street, sidewalk or alley.

The accompanying table scales the requirement to use and size: retail operations and first-floor nonresidential uses generally need one loading berth for every 10,000 square feet of floor area, office buildings and hotels need one berth per 100,000 square feet, and industrial or wholesale operations step up from one berth at 10,000 to 40,000 square feet to six berths at 320,001 to 400,000 square feet, with one more required for each additional 90,000 square feet beyond that. Because the standard sits inside the parking article rather than a standalone chapter, it is reviewed at the same site-plan stage the Planning and Inspections Department uses for parking layout, before any building permit issues.