Norwalk, CT Parking Rules: Loading Zones (2026)

Under Norwalk Code Section 118-1260, any hotel, hospital, store, office building, wholesale, manufacturing or industrial building, warehouse, or railroad and truck freight station must provide clearly marked and posted off-street loading spaces. Each space must measure at least 10 feet wide, 25 feet long, with 14 feet of vertical clearance, and must adjoin a loading dock or entryway with adequate apron space for maneuvering. The number of required spaces is tied to combined building floor area plus outside storage area: buildings between 3,000 and 25,000 square feet need one space; 25,000 to 80,000 square feet need two spaces; and buildings over 80,000 square feet need two spaces plus one additional space for every further 100,000 square feet of floor area.

These standards were last amended effective November 27, 1991. The Zoning Inspector administers compliance alongside the related site-development rules in Section 118-1240, which require loading areas used at night to be lighted away from adjacent streets and properties, and Section 118-1250, which requires buffer strips and planting islands around lots with five or more combined parking and loading spaces. Loading requirements are triggered at site plan review and enforced through the same permitting process as off-street parking under Article 120 of Chapter 118.