Olympia, WA Parking Rules: Loading Zones (2026)

The governing rule is Olympia Municipal Code § 10.20.040, most recently revised in 2026 by Ord. 7458. In the City of Olympia, the Director of Public Works or the Director's designee decides where passenger and freight curb-loading zones go, taxi zones included, and the City places and maintains the signs that state the hours the zone is in effect. A time limit of 15 to 30 minutes must be established in each area.

Who can use the space is narrow. Parking in a loading zone is allowed only with a permit or in a commercial vehicle as defined in RCW 46.04.140, and only for the express purpose of loading or unloading passengers or merchandise, as indicated by the posted signs. The code then defines merchandise as large or bulky items in excess of 10 pounds. Vehicles using a loading zone must have emergency flashers on. The section also bars any person or business from being granted the right, use, or franchise for vehicle parking on any portion of the surface area of a public highway to the exclusion of any other like person or business, so a storefront cannot claim a loading zone as its own reserved space.

Loading is also protected outside the posted zones in one situation. Chapter 10.18 bars a truck with a gross weight capacity over nine thousand pounds, a trailer over twenty feet in length, and a commercial vehicle eighty inches or more wide from parking or standing on streets in or abutting a residential area. Section 10.18.030 carves out any vehicle parked or left standing to load or unload persons or property, as long as the standing does not extend beyond the time necessary for the loading or unloading.

Enforcement runs through the parking infraction system. A vehicle found in violation of § 10.20.040 is issued a parking infraction, and the vehicle can be impounded under OMC 10.16.300.