Lakewood, WA Parking Rules: Loading Zones (2026)

050 sets the loading and unloading standards that apply citywide to commercial and industrial development in Pierce County's City of Lakewood. Any building that is erected, enlarged, or that undergoes a change of use must provide a minimum of one off-street or off-alley loading area. The minimum size scales with building size: 250 square feet for buildings between 5,000 and 20,000 gross square feet (GSF), 500 square feet for buildings between 20,000 and 50,000 GSF, and 750 square feet for buildings larger than 50,000 GSF.

The Planning and Public Works Director can require additional loading space based on the size, proposed use, or location of a project. 70 LMC. Loading spaces cannot encroach on required off-street parking or project into a public right-of-way or pedestrian area. Because Lakewood is built around residential neighborhoods bordering commercial corridors, loading berths must sit at least 50 feet from any residential district unless the loading area is fully enclosed in a building or screened by a wall or uniformly painted fence at least 6 feet high plus Type V solid barrier landscaping.

Sites that abut an alley must access their loading space off the alley unless the alley's dimensions or turning radius make that impossible. Buildings with dock-high loading doors need 100 feet of clear maneuvering space in front of each door; buildings with ground-level loading doors need 45 feet. These standards apply to buildings sited in Lakewood, not to properties inside adjoining Joint Base Lewis-McChord, which is federal land outside this code's reach.