St. Louis County, MO Parking Rules: Loading Zones (2026)

Section 1003.165F is the loading chapter of the County's off-street parking rules. It does not stand alone. Section 1003.165 says the parking and loading regulations govern the size, number, location and design of all off-street parking and loading facilities in the unincorporated areas of St. Louis County, and the use tables in Sections 1003.165A (commercial), 1003.165B (industrial), 1003.165C (institutional), 1003.165D (agricultural) and 1003.165E (residential) each point to 1003.165F in a loading column. Municipalities inside the county that run their own zoning are not covered.

Table A applies to uses that name it in the loading column, for example laundry and dry cleaning pick-up and mail order sales. It counts spaces of 10 ft. by 40 ft.: 1 space for 5,000 to 24,000 sq. ft. of gross floor area, 2 for 24,000 to 60,000, 3 for 60,000 to 96,000, 4 for 96,000 to 144,000, 5 for 144,000 to 192,000, 6 for 192,000 to 240,000, 7 for 240,000 to 294,000 and 8 for 294,000 to 348,000. Every additional 54,000 sq. ft. adds one more space. Each 10 ft. by 40 ft. space needs a height clear of obstruction of not less than fourteen (14) feet.

Table B is named by uses such as marijuana dispensary facilities, freestanding marijuana consumption facilities, commercial service retail sales and self-storage facilities. It starts lower, at 2,000 sq. ft., and splits the count between 10 ft. by 25 ft. spaces and 10 ft. by 40 ft. spaces. The 25,000 to 100,000 sq. ft. band prints 2 in the 10 ft. by 25 ft. column and 1 in the 10 ft. by 40 ft. column. Past that, each additional 100,000 sq. ft. adds 1 loading space. Many uses, including personal service facilities, mortuaries, small loan businesses and kennels, list no loading requirement at all.

Three related rules in Section 1003.165 shape how the tables work. Required loading spaces cannot be counted as off-street parking spaces. A lot with more than one use must provide the total of the requirements for all of its uses. Fractions are rounded down to the next lower whole number. Square footage is gross floor area, and structured parking inside a building is not counted as floor area. Existing parking, loading and stacking spaces cannot be reduced below the minimums, and all loading areas, including driveways, must be paved and have concrete curbs. The Director makes the final call when a use has no listed minimum.

Section 1003.1 defines a loading space as a durably dustproofed, properly graded for drainage, off-street space used for loading and unloading vehicles other than passenger vehicles. In a C Commercial or M Industrial District, no unenclosed loading space may sit closer to the street right-of-way than fifteen (15) feet, and that strip must be landscaped as approved by the Department of Planning.