Wicomico County, MD Parking Rules: Loading Zones (2026)

Wicomico County Code § 225-138 requires that after the zoning chapter's effective date, no land or structure in unincorporated Wicomico County may be used or occupied unless the off-street loading requirements are met. Manufacturing, warehouse and wholesale buildings must provide a minimum of one truck loading or unloading space, as must hospitals with 15,000 to 40,000 square feet of gross floor area and schools providing general instruction. Shopping centers must provide one off-street loading and unloading space for each 20,000 square feet of aggregate floor space across all establishments in the center.

Once a covered use exceeds its base floor-area threshold, the code adds one additional loading space for every additional 60,000 square feet of gross floor space. Every loading or unloading space must measure at least 25 feet by 15 feet, with a fourteen-foot overhead clearance, and the code notes that larger vehicles will require larger spaces than the minimum. The loading facility must sit on the same lot or parcel as the structure it serves, and in no case may a required loading space be counted toward the separate off-street parking requirements set out elsewhere in Chapter 225.

Service drives and loading and unloading areas must be located so that, during loading and unloading, no truck blocks the passage of other vehicles on the service drive or extends into any public street or private drive used for traffic circulation. Planning, Zoning and Community Development administers these standards as part of site plan and building permit review for unincorporated Wicomico County.