Vancouver, WA Parking Rules: Loading Zones (2026)

Vancouver Municipal Code § 9.60.060 sets the use rules for street loading zones. Under subsection A, loading zones other than those adjacent to hotel entrances and exits are reserved primarily for commercial vehicles loading and unloading persons and commodities between eight a.m. and six p.m. on all days except Sundays and holidays. No person can stop, stand or park a vehicle other than a commercial vehicle in the zone during those hours. Noncommercial vehicles get one allowance: they can use the zone while actually engaged in the loading or unloading of persons or commodities, but they must give way upon demand to commercial vehicles whose drivers want to use the zone for loading or unloading. At all other times such zones are for general use under the parking regulations applicable to the district in which they are located.

Subsection B treats hotel zones differently. Loading zones adjacent to hotel entrances and exits are reserved at all times primarily for vehicles, both commercial and noncommercial, loading and unloading persons and commodities, and no person can stop, stand or park there for any other purpose. Subsection C applies to every loading zone: loading and unloading of persons and commodities must be continuous and completed as rapidly as possible.

Where a zone is created, and what its hours are, is decided by the traffic engineer under VMC 9.60.050. The engineer weighs the volume and nature of business within the block, the volume of normal traffic, the volume of normal parking, the width and surface of the street, and the relation between the need for parking space for the general public and parking space for loading merchandise. Parking spaces in parking meter zones can be set aside as loading zones, and the engineer can set different hours of use and other special regulations and post notice of them. In the absence of signs, the general provisions of Title 9 govern the use of the zone.

For large loads, VMC 9.60.065 lets a business apply to the department of public works for permission to park a truck or other equipment on the driving lane side and in the middle third of a block on Main Street between Fifth Street and McLoughlin Boulevard, or on Broadway between 7th Street and McLoughlin Boulevard. Under 9.60.067 the permit carries no fee, is valid for stated dates and hours, is not valid until twenty-four hours after issue, and requires the applicant to sign an agreement holding the city harmless.