Lower Paxton, PA Parking Rules: Loading Zones (2026)

Lower Paxton Township handles commercial loading through the zoning chapter's off-street loading sections, not through posted delivery hours. Section 203-909 applies in all zoning districts to every use that receives or distributes material or merchandise by tractor-trailer. Retail stores, freight terminals, industrial or manufacturing establishments, personal or business service establishments and storage warehouses follow Table 4: no berth under 10,000 square feet of gross floor area, one berth from 10,000 to 19,999, two from 20,000 to 39,999, three from 40,000 to 65,000, and one additional berth for each additional 20,000. Auditoriums, convention or exhibit halls, sports arenas, hotels, office buildings, restaurants, nursing homes, hospitals, schools, apartment buildings and public buildings follow Table 5: none under 40,000 square feet, one berth from 40,000 to 59,999, two from 60,000 to 99,999, three from 100,000 to 160,000 and four over 160,000. Any other business expecting deliveries from large vehicles can be required to provide berths at the Township's discretion.

Design is set by § 203-908. A berth is at least 65 feet long, 12 feet wide and 14 feet clear overhead, and the berth area cannot count toward required parking. Each berth needs enough turnaround area that vehicles do not back onto public streets, the Township Engineer reviews the design, and the berth has direct access to a driveway and stays free of obstruction. Berths sit on the same lot as the principal use, never in a required front yard, and at least 30 feet from the nearest point where two streets intersect. An eight-foot hedge, wall or fence with at least 80% opacity screens every side facing a residential use or a use in a residential zoning district. Berths are paved with concrete or bituminous material, lighting is aimed away from neighbors and streets, and the use must be accessed directly from an arterial or collector street.

Section 203-909(E) requires storage space for vehicles awaiting loading or unloading, and no vehicle can be stored on or block a public right-of-way. Section 203-904(K) requires curbing around loading areas, service areas and driveways, and § 203-904(N) requires a grass or landscaped planting strip between off-street loading and the street, except at approved entrances and exits. On the street itself, § 196-25 bars parking of truck tractors and trailers on public streets in any zoning district, with one carve-out for loading or unloading.