Santa Rosa, CA Parking Rules: Loading Zones (2026)

Section 11-20.020(A) bars parking against a yellow-painted curb between 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. any day except Sunday for any purpose other than commercial loading or unloading of freight, and caps that use at 24 consecutive minutes. The section defines who qualifies: commercially registered and licensed vehicles, United States Postal Service vehicles, vehicles displaying the business name in at least two-inch lettering, or vehicles carrying a City-issued commercial loading zone permit. The Parking Manager sets the permit's requirements and fee by Council resolution rather than in the code itself, so a business that needs longer or more frequent curb time must apply administratively rather than rely on the base 24-minute allowance.

Subsection (B) lets the City Parking Manager combine a yellow zone with metered or time-limited parking on the same curb, provided signage clearly separates the commercial loading hours from the hours open to ordinary metered parking; the combined zone only takes effect once signs identifying both schedules are actually posted. Nearby, Section 11-20.030 sets a separate, tighter standard for white-curbed passenger loading, five consecutive minutes rather than 24, showing the code treats freight loading and passenger drop-off as different problems. Both curb-color rules sit in Chapter 11-20 (Stopping, Standing and Parking), enforced citywide by the Police Department's parking enforcement staff.