Gaston County, NC Parking Rules: Loading Zones (2026)

1 applies the loading standard to all non-residential uses in every zoning district in the unincorporated county; inside the CBD Central Business District and the TND Center portion of a Traditional Neighborhood Development, the requirement narrows to hotels and motels only. 10-1 sets the count: restaurants, hotels and motels need one space between 5,000 and 49,999 square feet of gross floor area, two spaces from 50,000 to 99,999, and an added space per additional 100,000 square feet beyond that; offices, commercial buildings, shopping centers and industrial uses scale from zero spaces under 5,000 square feet up to five spaces at 150,000 square feet, plus one more per additional 50,000 square feet.

3 sets the design standard: every space must have a paved surface, a minimum width of 12 feet, a minimum length of 35 feet, and 14 feet of vertical clearance, and all vehicle maneuvering must occur entirely inside the property lines. Where a use must furnish three or more spaces, at least one of every three must be enlarged to 12 feet wide, 100 feet long and still 14 feet of clearance to fit tractor-trailers. Loading areas cannot double as required off-street parking, and vice versa.

4 lets the Administrator waive or reduce the count where a use's operations do not generate the delivery traffic the table assumes. Because a Zoning Certificate of Compliance will not issue for any non-residential use until this section is satisfied, developers resolve loading design during site plan review rather than after construction. This chapter reaches only the unincorporated county; Gastonia, Belmont, Mount Holly, Cherryville, Dallas, Stanley and Bessemer City each administer their own separate loading standards under their own codes.