Taunton, MA Parking Rules: Loading Zones (2026)

Section 405-48 of the Taunton Code, last amended July 17, 2007, governs every street-side service zone and loading zone in the City. The baseline rule is strict: no vehicle may occupy the zone for more than 15 minutes. The only exception is for a vehicle actually engaged in loading or unloading, and even that exception is capped, the section allows loading or unloading activity to run no longer than half an hour before the vehicle has to move. A driver who parks in a loading zone but is not actively loading or unloading gets only the base 15 minutes; the extended half-hour window applies specifically to the loading or unloading operation itself, not to parking generally.

The term service zone is defined earlier in Chapter 405, at § 405-1, as an area in the roadway set aside for the accommodation of commercial and transient vehicular traffic, which is the same definitional foundation § 405-48 relies on. Because the zones are marked by the City rather than created automatically, a loading or service zone only exists, and the time limit only applies, where the Municipal Council has designated one under § 405-99, the section that assigns bus stops, taxicab stands and service zones.

Businesses that need a longer stop, such as a delivery of bulky freight, have no administrative waiver written into this section; the fixed 15-minute and half-hour caps apply regardless of the size of the delivery.