Yakima, WA Parking Rules: Loading Zones (2026)

Yakima addresses loading and unloading in two distinct ways. First, Title 15 (Yakima Urban Area Zoning Ordinance) requires off-street loading and unloading spaces for any use requiring frequent loading or unloading from trucks or other large vehicles, so businesses receiving regular deliveries must accommodate them on private property rather than on the public street. Second, on the on-street side, YMC Chapter 9.50 (Parking and Rules of the Road) authorizes the installation of signed loading-zone restrictions where business density or street geometry requires reserved curb space for commercial deliveries; signage follows federal MUTCD standards. A vehicle may not park in a signed loading zone unless actively loading or unloading passengers or property within the posted time allowance. State law RCW 46.61.570 (Stopping, standing, or parking prohibited in specified places) treats stopping, standing, and parking distinctly: a vehicle actively engaged in receiving or discharging passengers or goods is generally not 'parked' for purposes of the standard parking restrictions during the active loading window, but the distance setbacks still apply (fifteen feet from a fire hydrant, twenty feet from a crosswalk at an intersection, no stopping on a sidewalk, in an intersection, or in front of a driveway). Downtown Yakima loading vehicles must still comply with the two-hour on-street limit between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays unless covered by a signed loading-zone or permit. Property owners and tenants planning regular loading operations on private property handle them under the property's posted signage and Title 15. Complaints about vehicles blocking signed loading zones go to the Yakima Police Department non-emergency line at (509) 575-6200.