Sterling Heights, MI Parking Rules: Loading Zones (2026)

05 governs off-street loading and unloading citywide. The Planning Department decides case by case, during site plan review, whether a building or use generates enough truck traffic to require a dedicated loading area; where one is required, it must provide at least 14 feet of vertical clearance so delivery trucks can maneuver under any structure. Loading and unloading must happen off the public street, alley, or right-of-way entirely: a use cannot let trucks back into traffic to load, and backing from any public street with an 86-foot or wider right-of-way is flatly not allowed.

Docks and truck wells are barred from required front yards along major thoroughfares and along any right-of-way of 120 feet or greater. On narrower rights-of-way, below-grade loading may sit in the front yard, but above-grade or elevated loading can never go there, regardless of street width. Unless the ordinance says otherwise, loading and unloading areas belong in the rear yard; the Planning Department can approve side-yard loading only after finding it will not interfere with vehicular or pedestrian circulation or with neighboring uses. A loading area can never double as required off-street parking, and parking area cannot substitute for required loading space. 03. The provision traces to Ordinance No. 278-F, Section 2, adopted August 8, 1990, and has not been amended since.