Rockdale County, GA Parking Rules: Loading Zones (2026)

Sec. 226-1 of the Unified Development Ordinance requires any development whose normal operation involves goods, merchandise or equipment being routinely delivered or shipped to provide sufficient off-street loading and unloading space. The minimum number of spaces applies to buildings over 5,000 gross square feet used for retail, office, wholesale, industrial, governmental or institutional purposes, including public assembly places, hospitals and schools: one space is required for the first 25,000 square feet of floor area, and the code's own table sets the progression from there, two spaces for 25,001 to 99,999 square feet, three for 100,000 to 159,999, four for 160,000 to 239,999, and five for 240,000 to 349,999, with one additional space for every further 100,000 square feet or fraction of it.

Sec. 226-2 then sets the physical dimensions: each loading stall must be at least ten feet wide and 30 feet long, except wholesale and industrial stalls, which need at least ten feet by 50 feet, and every loading area needs a minimum vertical clearance of 12 feet, a driveway grade no steeper than four percent, and a loading-area grade capped at two percent. Loading areas must be paved with asphalt, concrete, porous paving blocks, gravel, or another material the director of planning and development approves, built strong enough to carry service-vehicle weight.

Sec. 226-1(c) bars double-counting: a loading area cannot be used to satisfy off-street parking requirements, and a parking area cannot substitute for required loading space. Once established, a loading area is a permanent reservation under Sec. 226-1(e); it cannot be reduced or converted to another use unless the served use is discontinued or modified, or the director approves an equivalent replacement loading space.