Portsmouth, VA Parking Rules: Loading Zones (2026)

Once the city manager designates a curb loading zone under Chapter 22, Sec. 22-572 controls who may use it and for how long. No one may stop, stand, or park a vehicle in a marked curb loading zone for any purpose other than the expeditious unloading and delivery, or pickup and loading, of materials, and only during the hours the zone's posted restrictions are in effect. Any delivery vehicle using the zone, other than a regular delivery truck, must carry the owner's or company's name in letters three inches high on both sides of the vehicle so enforcement can identify who the space is serving.

The section carves out one exception for passenger vehicles: a driver may stop temporarily in a curb loading zone to load or unload passengers or bundles, but only while actively engaged in that task and only if the stop does not interfere with a materials-delivery vehicle that is waiting to enter or about to enter the same space. This traces back to Code 1973, Sec. 23-218, carried forward as Code 1988, Sec. 22-576, and now sits in Article VII of Chapter 22 alongside the bus-stop rule in Sec.

22-573, which uses nearly identical language to protect designated bus stops from non-bus vehicles. Enforcement of Sec. 22-572 runs through the citywide parking-ticket procedure in Sec. 00 penalty added for a second notice if the first goes unpaid, and full nonpayment within 28 days becomes a separate violation of Sec. 00 upon conviction. Sec. 22-577 authorizes the city manager or police chief to appoint uniformed personnel, beyond sworn officers, specifically to issue these loading-zone citations without needing a warrant from the private lot owner.